'Unitil bill' passes the Legislature - Sentinel & Enterprise

Bob wrote:

if it performs poorly during an emergency and public safety is at risk?????????
What, a little inconvenience not having power and you think it's a public emergency?
God help us if we ever have to go to war and you whinny little kids have to give up your T.V. and frozen dinners for more than a few days.
I hope there is a provision that lets Unitel or any utility cut any tree THEY think might cause an outage, without having to appear at 5 selectmen's meetings because you think it will impact your "quality of life".

There are quite a few disabled people that rely on their electricity for medical equipment. There are a lot of nursing homes with electric beds and hospitals with so much equipment that requires electricity just for the basics. Sometimes it's not all about you, loser. People died during the time they waited for services to be restored. Unitil never checked on anybody that requires special access to services. They were supposed to.

How about amending the Bill where our elected officials are the last ones allowed to leave the emergency shelter and not until all residents power has been restored. Inculde the power company management and their lobbiest friends.

One word of advice to the delegation, don't believe Wes Eberle when he tells you that Bill looks like a lot of paperwork to try and carry around, why don't you just carry this small check from me as a token of Unitils appreciation and let me file that Big Ole Bill for ya. I'll make sure it gets where its supposed to be.(hint: he works for them).

RMT wrote:

This is not enough? At least it's something! Geez, give a person an inch and they ask for a mile. If this bill passes, Unitil will be forced to overhaul their equipment if they want to keep their company.

No, it is not enough. That's why I said it. I don't care what they'll have to do next time around if they repeat the offense. I only care about what their punishment is for what they already did.

Tiffany from Fitchburg wrote:

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You obviously didn't lose your power for 14 days like some of us did. Most houses need electricity for their heat to work. Some need it for their stove and oven. And some need it for water. So, you try living 14 days without cooked food, hot water, or heat for 14 days... OR move out of your home to stay somewhere else because you can't survive without water, heat, or food and then come back to see that your pipes have burst even though you took precautions. Yeah, we're all babies.

Some toilets can't flush during power outages too if they use a well.

Yea...so funny how a "Bill" had to be passed just to gain control over a situation...how about UNITIL paying back ALL their customers that they billed anyways during the time we had no ELECTRICITY, HEAT, and HOT WATER....or how about the MONOPOLIZING company, get charged with MANSLAUGHTER for killing all those people...Real Nice Unitil...

Jon from Lunenburg wrote:

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i sell generators for less than that!

I've beenmeaning to get one. What brands/models do you sell and how much $?

Need One wrote:

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I've beenmeaning to get one. What brands/models do you sell and how much $?

Try "Ground Water Supply" a place in Leominster on Rt12 near the Sterling Line, on the left behind Nashuaway Pediatrics. They have these Yamaha models called inverters. The generator produces DC and then it is inverted to AC. It is a conditioned AC power that is much better for a furnace or computers. The also run a lot quiter (Noise). They had a couple models under 1k.

NOT ENOUGH wrote:

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Some toilets can't flush during power outages too if they use a well.

If they have a well they have no water. Period. That is unsanitary = unsafe conditions. Also after a few days with no heat you have to drain all your systems or they freeze and break the pipes. Most people didn't know what to do as they were led to believe they were 'next' or 'tomorrow.' After the thaw there were a lot of broken pipes. If the insurance companies all banded together and went after Unitil in a class action, maybe you'd see something. My insurance claim only made my payment go up.

fire the BOD of unitil including the fsc president

Typical democrats trying to fix things with a band aid. Did they think this one through? Doesn't seem like they (dems) made anyone happy except themselves.

wow wrote:

get a life buy a generator sit back and dont worry about the next storm. duh

Exactly!

So you mean to tell me this is the solution our great legislators have made, well no sh@t! Did we actually need someone to pass legislation for this!! The loser Deval Patrick is showing his face out here, for what?????????

wow wrote:

get a life buy a generator sit back and dont worry about the next storm. duh

What a jackass. Here's a bulletin idiot: We PAY for service and part of what we PAY for is infrastructure reliability, which Unitil is under contractual obligation to provide. Understand?

Why should we shell out $1000 or more for a generator because they REFUSE to provide the service they are paid to provide? Obviously you're one of Unitil's mindless lackeys.

Former Lunenburg Resident wrote:

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What a jackass. Here's a bulletin idiot: We PAY for service and part of what we PAY for is infrastructure reliability, which Unitil is under contractual obligation to provide. Understand?
Why should we shell out $1000 or more for a generator because they REFUSE to provide the service they are paid to provide? Obviously you're one of Unitil's mindless lackeys.

I dont't think being prepared makes a person a mindless lackey. Unitil is what it is and we know that they aren't reliable. I'm not willing to take the chance this winter of being without power for several days. We lost power 3 times this summer/fall due to high winds and rain storms, I can only imagine what another ice storm or blizzard will do to us.

Regarding your sentiment that part of what we pay Unitil for is a reliable infrastructure, I agree 100% with you. But what we're paying and what we're getting are two totally different things. I'm just preparing myself and in doing so, I'll be able to help family and friends who may need a warm place to stay for a few days if it ever comes to that again.

What we're paying for - top of the line limousine service

What we're getting - a bicycle with a flat tire

Resident wrote:

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I dont't think being prepared makes a person a mindless lackey. Unitil is what it is and we know that they aren't reliable. I'm not willing to take the chance this winter of being without power for several days. We lost power 3 times this summer/fall due to high winds and rain storms, I can only imagine what another ice storm or blizzard will do to us.

Don't get me wrong, being prepared is a wise thing to do, but the wording of his comment insinuated stupidity on the part of the people who expect decent service from the company we pay to provide such.

To shrug off Unitil's uncaring, incompetent, arrogance (which has been going on for at least 15 years that I'm aware of) and placing blame on their customers is just mind boggling. I strongly suspect he works for them.

Former Lunenburg Resident wrote:

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Why should we shell out $1000 or more for a generator because they REFUSE to provide the service they are paid to provide? Obviously you're one of Unitil's mindless lackeys.

That should read,“they are OVER paid to provide.”
We get nowhere near the service we DESERVE for the kind of money they charge. And, now we find out, in addition to the exorbitant rates, they have been stealing even more from us in our gas rates. Nice company.

J_in_ Ward_1 wrote:

What we're paying for - top of the line limousine service
What we're getting - a bicycle with a flat tire

EXCELLENT analogy.

Former Lunenburg Resident wrote:

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Don't get me wrong, being prepared is a wise thing to do, but the wording of his comment insinuated stupidity on the part of the people who expect decent service from the company we pay to provide such.
To shrug off Unitil's uncaring, incompetent, arrogance (which has been going on for at least 15 years that I'm aware of) and placing blame on their customers is just mind boggling. I strongly suspect he works for them.

Gotcha, and I agree with you. But anyone who can afford it should defintely get a generator and the cable made up as well.

new generators posted on local craigslist. hope i can help you when unitil strikes again this year.

This "Unitil bill " is a farce and a joke. Unitil is here to stay. This bill only gave a photo op to Benson, Rice and Flanagen. The only Pol who "really cares" for his constituents is probably Hargraves. Remeber, Hargraves did NOT vote for the recent MA tax increases!

Also remember, FSC Pres Antonucci is on the board of directers of Unitil. He's also a frined of Flanagen and former State sen Antonioni, so we are stuck with Unitil! As far a the "ratepayers" are concerned: why did Flanagen and Benson vote to increase state taxwes for the hard-working "taxpayers" of MA!? Do they REALLY care about the hard working people of North Centeral MA, NOT!!!