Comments
HubcapMotors t1_j1fif0w wrote
To be fair, there was and still is enormous competition for linemen given the sheer scale of this storm. But with the rates we pay, you'd think we could have more workers and equipment in-house at Eversource to deal with this. Or, again, more money invested to harden the grid against events like this.
As a point of reference of how our money is being spent, this year alone, Eversource sent $891M of ratepayer money out as dividends to investors. I wonder how many more line workers we could have for $891 million USD every year?
LordConnecticut t1_j1g5047 wrote
That’s not being fair. They shouldn’t need to beg for help every storm. That’s a failing. As you pointed out, how many line workers could be had for $891 million.
Kodiak01 t1_j1krg9o wrote
> But with the rates we pay, you'd think we could have more workers and equipment in-house at Eversource to deal with this.
No company is going to keep a ton of extra employees around for something that happens once every several years.
Given the size of the storm, this is a case where no State can send help to another because they have their own problems.
LordConnecticut t1_j1lwfuy wrote
Do you think that the only thing line workers do is work during a storm? There’s a ton of deferred maintenance across Eversource’s lines. Normally, these workers do other jobs during normal operation. Instead Eversource has no one doing those jobs.
Kodiak01 t1_j1m2gj8 wrote
Ok, so let's bring on, somehow, another 2000 workers. The median pay for a lineman at Eversource is ~$45/hr. That is $187.2M. Now this doesn't include benefits. The average employee cost for benefits is ~32% of pay. That is another $59.9M bringing us to $247.1M/yr. Now this is all assuming they work a straight 40hrs/wk, which of course they don't especially during storms. A technician, especially with storms and regular job issues, can easily top 500hrs of OT a year. OT Pay, benefits, etc. tacks on another ~$92M/yr, bringing us to $339.1M.
Now tack of equipment. How many tens or hundreds of millions to get all the trucks and other equipment needed? A single line truck can easily top $300k-400k in cost. Just to give a comparison of another vehicle with a similar amount of hydraulics, the truck that picks up your trash every week goes for $600-$800k depending on body style.
To top it all off, this isn't something they could do in just one State and ignore all the others. For New England along, for simplicity's sake you can triple all those numbers.
So... assuming you COULD find thousands of people to hire AND find all the equipment they need, how to you propose to pay for it?
LordConnecticut t1_j1mjcth wrote
Did you not read? They paid dividends worth over $800 million dollars last year. Case closed.
Also, side note since you seem unaware. Eversource in other states is separate operationally. That’s one reason why the performance of the company in say, NH, is better then in CT. They’re essentially joined at the very top, holding company level.
Kodiak01 t1_j1mmlub wrote
>Did you not read? They paid dividends worth over $800 million dollars last year. Case closed.
The dividends go to the shareholders, not the executives. Also, $800M wouldn't even begin to cover the cost of New England alone.
>Also, side note since you seem unaware. Eversource in other states is separate operationally. That’s one reason why the performance of the company in say, NH, is better then in CT. They’re essentially joined at the very top, holding company level.
The levels of your ignorance on what you are trying to talk about is astounding.
NH, MA and NH are all operated until a central umbrella at Eversource. The costs I broke out (which you ignored in hopes that others would not notice they exist, or just haven't come up with a way to refute the truth) would exceed the dividends paid out in New England alone; the number you listed was for the company as a whole. Unless you want to pay licensed electricians the same as burger flippers, the math will never add up without massive price increases.
LordConnecticut t1_j1n1wd4 wrote
I never said dividends went to executives lmao. With your calculations, it would.
Do you think the dividend (i.e. money basically given away) is the total sum of their cash on hand? Not to mention the several executives making over $40 million a year?
anon122022 t1_j1mzbik wrote
You seriously have no idea what you’re talking about. 99% of what you’ve said on this thread is factually incorrect.
LordConnecticut t1_j1n1nkp wrote
Are you incapable of math? 348 million shares at $2.55 annual payout per share:
$887 million dollars.
[deleted] t1_j1fgb0h wrote
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[deleted] t1_j1ii637 wrote
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Kolzig33189 t1_j1faur3 wrote
We all complained and moaned (rightfully so) about the fix time for large portions of the state for Isaias but at least that was during the summer where it’s uncomfortable but not dangerous (for nearly everyone, I’m sure some exceptions exist).
A few days fix time for a storm in the middle of winter when temps are about to be in single digits and teens for a few days is completely unacceptable and incredibly dangerous because not everyone has generators, fireplaces, etc to heat their home. Unfortunately, there will be deaths from a multi day outage during this weather and it’s completely insane that it would take that level before our politicians/legislature MIGHT actually do something about it.
sjsmac t1_j1fbyt9 wrote
@GovNedLamont: I’ve extended cold weather protocol an additional day through Tuesday, Dec 27 at 12 PM.
Anyone in need of shelter or a warming center should call 2-1-1 to find a nearby location. Transportation can be provided.
Kolzig33189 t1_j1fyai7 wrote
While I agree that’s an important link to share and I’m glad this option is available, it’s simply not good enough for our legislators to provide warming shelters. We all know very few people over the age of 40 or 50 will see that and the senior citizens are the ones most at risk.
I can’t wait until Duff posts something about how he’s having a wonderful Christmas on Sunday and how he hopes everyone has the same. Light his ass up.
Kodiak01 t1_j1krke5 wrote
> A few days fix time for a storm in the middle of winter when temps are about to be in single digits and teens for a few days is completely unacceptable and incredibly dangerous because not everyone has generators, fireplaces, etc to heat their home.
And where did you expect them to pull all the thousands of extra employees and hundreds of extra trucks from? Out of their ass?
Almost every State is dealing with issues right now, most worse than here. Stop being so fucking entitled already.
Kolzig33189 t1_j1lk4ek wrote
Apparently you’re not familiar with what contractors are. There is no need to hire extra employees.
And stop schilling for eversource and their terrible decision making and planning. It’s pathetic.
G3Saint t1_j1gg3hb wrote
Uhh. how can you stop the wind and frozen limbs?
mas90guru t1_j1gcm93 wrote
I’ve seen this move before. About three times.
so2017 t1_j1fccfi wrote
No power here. Eversource had the gall to text the following:
“Hundreds of crews deployed and are working, and more are arriving from out-of-state to assist. With outages so widespread, full restoration will take time. Bitter cold tonight could cause flash freezing and make travel to repair sites difficult. Next update tomorrow morning or as crews arrive onsite at your location to make repairs.”
The total number of outages were below the predicted number and they still failed to stage sufficient crew? 80,000 people have to go through a freezing night - or more - because these dopes understaffed to save money?
In all seriousness, and from my heart, fuck you, Eversource.