CL&P Breaks Own Records

Connecticut Light and Power Company reports that it has closed out its best electric service year ever in 1999 based on overall reliability and record performance levels in the fourth quarter.

On average, CL&P’s 1.1 million customers were without power in 1999 for a record low of one hour and 47 minutes. This was an 18 percent improvement over 1998, when customer outages averaged two hours and eight minutes, and surpassed by 9 percent the previous record of one hour and 58 minutes set in 1997.

The last three months of 1999 also established a record fourth quarter level of reliability. Overall, service to customers for the period October 1 to December 31 was interrupted an average of only 18.6 minutes, an improvement of 34 percent over the same period in 1998. The 18.6 minutes was the best for any three-month period, surpassing the average of 19.24 minutes in the first quarter of 1997.

CL&P attributes the record performance to its ongoing tree-trimming program and equipment improvement measures and projects that have improved electric system reliability by more than 50 percent since 1988.