CL&P Reports Record

 Reliability Improvement

WATERBURY — On the heels of its best year of electric service, the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) reported record reliability for the first quarter of 2000, an improvement of 40 percent over the same period in 1999.

On average, CL&P’s nearly 1.1 million customers were without power a record low of 13.8 minutes for the period from January 1 to March 31, compared with an average of 23.18 minutes for the first three months of 1999.

Except for a two-week period of extreme cold weather in January, a mostly moderate winter contributed to the best first quarter for reliability since 1988, when CL&P launched a number of reliability improvement measures including a major tree-trimming program. The record first quarter follows the record levels of overall reliability in 1999.

The unusually mild period was also devoid of any major storm activity. To maintain consistency, state regulators allow the exclusion of widespread power interruptions, such as major storms, when reporting reliability of service.

CL&P President Hugh C. MacKenzie said, “The continuing record of reliability reflects the goal of CL&P and its employees to provide the best possible service as Connecticut’s premier transmission and distribution company. High performance of service in this new era of competition is what customers can expect from CL&P.”

Connecticut Light & Power/Northeast Utilities has a corporate office on Barnabas Road in Newtown.