By Carol Britton Meyer

The town has appealed the state Department of Public Utilities’ recent denial of a request to investigate National Grid’s maintenance of the power lines that feed electricity to Hull.

The town filed a request for an investigation by the dpu in 2021. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PETITION.

The select board and the light board met jointly in an emergency executive session on Monday, April 1. On Nov. 1, 2021, Hull Light filed a petition to open an investigation on the manner in which National Grid had been managing and maintaining the two electric lines that provide power to residents and businesses. The petition was filed with the Massachusetts DPU, which recently dismissed the request on the grounds that such an investigation was not its responsibility.

During the executive session, the two boards decided to file an appeal with the state Supreme Judicial Court, which Town Counsel James Lampke told the select board he did on Wednesday, during an update at this week’s meeting.

The hope is that a determination will be made requiring the DPU to perform an investigation to help resolve ongoing issues with National Grid.

‘There are other communities with similar issues’

“It appears that there are other communities with similar problems with National Grid,” Lampke said. “We will contact other interested parties to garner support. The court is one way to deal with the issue, and we’re looking at other avenues as well. Even if the DPU’s decision isn’t overturned, we want to be sure that during the height of the summer season, there are no problems with our power supply.”

The concern centers around National Grid-related power losses, which are often of long duration and are more difficult to resolve than outages for which the light plant is responsible because many of the feeder lines are located in Hingham in a wooded area that can be difficult to access, especially at nighttime, according to town officials.

The petition of the town and the Hull Municipal Light Plant requested that the DPU order National Grid to upgrade the lines and associated facilities at National Grid’s expense.

In addition, the petition requested that National Grid be ordered to reimburse Hull Light for the millions of dollars that the plant has expended to protect residents and businesses from potential power failures, including the cost of generators that are installed during the winter to ensure residents and other customers won’t be without power during a potential prolonged outage.

The filing included expert testimony from qualified professionals in regulatory affairs; Paul Hibbard, former chair of the DPU; and Thomas E. Converse, who has more than 35 years of experience with public power line design and construction.

Additional testimony was provided by Hull Light Operations Manager Panos Tokadjian and then-Town Manager Philip Lemnios.

At that time, National Grid issued a statement saying that the utility company “has been engaged in extensive maintenance and inspection of the two service lines,” along with other details. “Over the last year, we have offered to meet with town officials several times to discuss the transmission lines. That offer still stands.”

‘Serious threats to life and safety’

For many years, “the lack of care and failure of National Grid to upgrade the two 1930-era lines has caused great distress and harm to residents and businesses of Hull,” Lemnios told The Hull Times at that time. “When residents lose power, a cascading series of impacts occurs, including creating serious threats to life and safety.”

The town has worked with National Grid over the years to try to resolve these issues.

National Grid has a monopoly for the provision of this service, with a substantial guaranteed rate of return for the company, Lemnios said earlier. “In exchange for this monopoly status, there is an expectation and requirement that electric service will be reliable.”

Of the Hull Light Plant’s more than 6,200 customers at the time the petition was filed, about 4,200 were residential. The plant also provides power to all the town’s municipal buildings, the Coast Guard (including lighthouses), restaurants and other businesses in town.

Click here for a link to the petition filed by the town.

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