United Illuminating officials expect to restore power to 3,300 customers in Shelton by the end of the day Wednesday (Aug. 31).
That’s about half of those who still had no power Wednesday morning, according to UI spokesman Michael West.
The utility company has 26 crews working in Shelton on Wednesday, West said.
This video is of UI crews working in Ansonia Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Shelton has seen little change since Sunday in the number of residents who don’t have power.
When the storm hit Sunday, about 42 percent of the town was out of power. The number peaked the next day at 51 percent.
As of Wednesday morning, about 41 percent, or 7,200 customers, were still out of power, West said.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti Wednesday morning went on the radio — both WICC and WPLR — and criticized the lack of communication between UI and the city.
State Rep. Jason Perillo also expressed frustration Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m trying to give these guys the benefit of the doubt. This is obviously a Herculean task,” Perillo said. “But come on here — 43 percent of Shelton has been out for four days.”
Perillo said the state legislature should huddle after the power is back on to find out where the flaws in the response were, and assess why it took so long to get power back on and communicate the updates to consumers.
“We certainly understand that frustration,” West said Wednesday afternoon. “Much of it happened during the assessment phase.”
The assessment phase is what has been going on since the storm. UI crews are clearing trees and other dangers, figuring out where the problems are, and determining a plan to fix them.
“Firefighters don’t run directly into buildings. They assess first,” West said. “You really want to assess the problem first before you go in.”
Who is Getting Power Back First?
West said UI has been assessing damage in its service area, where a total of 158,000 customers had lost power after the storm. The company expects to have only 50,000 without power by the end of the day Wednesday.
It has been hard to give information about when power would be restored in certain areas until the company knew the full extent of the problem, West said.
Article continues after video.
The first priority for power restoration went to emergency facilities such as hospitals and police departments.
Then, UI restored power to essential buildings, such as emergency shelters.
Finally, UI is working to restore power to the rest of its customers, West said.
The circuits with the most customers affected will be restored first, West said.
“We look at how we can get the most power back first,” West said.
So the person who lost power because their wire was pulled out from the house will probably be the last to get power back on, West said.
West didn’t have specific areas that were being worked on Wednesday.
But readers on the Valley Indy Facebook page said that by 4 p.m., power had been restored to Huntington Center and other parts of Huntington.
Perillo said Aspetuck Village also received power Wednesday afternoon.
Some Help
Residents in Shelton who need water, food and ice can go to the Shelton Community Center until 7 p.m. to pick up supplies. The center will be open until 9 p.m. for showers and some power outlets.
Residents should bring identification with them.