NSTAR Offers Safety Tips for Holiday Decorations

Residents are encouraged to be safe when decorating their homes for the holiday season.

  In an effort to help residents across the Commonwealth remain safe during the holiday season, NSTAR released a list of safety tips regarding the use of home decorations. “Holiday lights have become much more efficient than the older-style bulbs of years past,” said Bill Stack, NSTAR’s energy efficiency spokesman in a statement Wednesday. “With newer technology now available in many more options, today’s lighting displays can help a family save money and energy this holiday season.” Holiday lights using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) use 90 percent less energy than traditional bulbs, according to NSTAR, and they’re much more durable and can last years longer. Additionally, operating 10 strings of mini-LED lights compared to 10 strings of …

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NSTAR Says 95-Percent of Power Restored

NSTAR is reporting that they have restored power to 95-percent of the homes without power.

NSTAR has made significant progress restoring power to customers in the wake of the devastation caused by Sandy.  Of the 400-thousand NSTAR customers impacted by Sandy, 95 percent have already been restored, 274-thousand in the first 24 hours. NSTAR crews will continue to work day and night until we’ve restored power to all customers affected by the storm. “As the large area outages have been restored, our crews are now focusing on the smaller pockets of customers often impacted by heavy tree conditions,” said Werner Schweiger, President of NSTAR Electric. “NSTAR community liaisons are in constant communication with designated points-of-contact in each of the communities we serve and are providing answers to questions regarding the …

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NSTAR Gas Scores Top Marks in Customer Satisfaction

The following is from a press release.

  Northeast Utilities subsidiaries NSTAR Gas and Yankee Gas have earned the top two rankings in customer satisfaction among residential natural gas customers in the Eastern U.S., according to a recently released J. D. Power and Associates survey.   The survey of 10 of the east region’s midsized gas utilities puts NSTAR Gas of Massachusetts at the top of the list, followed closely by Yankee Gas of Connecticut. “Our unyielding attention to customer satisfaction and reliable service is clearly having a positive impact on how our customers view us,” said Rod Powell, President of NSTAR Gas and Yankee Gas.  “Natural gas is increasingly the fuel of choice in our region and local residents are putting their trust in us to keep their families warm …

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NSTAR Gas Prices Could Drop in May

The supply price for natural gas is expected to drop by 27 percent.

  There is some good news in the works for Dedham residents who use NSTAR for gas.  Customers can expect to see the supply price of natural gas drop by 27 percent by May 1, compared to last year, according to an announcement Tuesday by NSTAR.  The company submitted a new supply for its off-peak season of about $0.35 per therm, a drop from about $0.47. If the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approves the move, the average NSTAR customer who uses natural gas for heating, cooking and/or hot water will pay about $4.60 a month less than last year. "NSTAR Gas customers continue to benefit from plentiful supplies and lower prices,” said Tom May, NSTAR Chairman, President and CEO in a statement. "A growing number of customers are …

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Dedham Selectmen Rail Against NSTAR [VIDEO]

Six months after Irene, the board talked performance with NSTAR officials.

Tropical Storm Irene and an October snowstorm left thousands in Dedham without power for days - and complaints from town officials and residents about NSTAR's response poured in. The Dedham Board of Selectmen had a chance to get debriefed on Feb. 9 about what happened during those storms that made them so damaging and plans moving forward. "My uninformed observation is that the general level of condition of infrastructure in this town has declined over the years," selectman Michael Butler said. "The investment hasn't been kept up by the utility." Since Irene, Richard Tobin, manager of emergency prepardness, said NSTAR has added personnel, updated its response procedures and taken advice on how to communicate better with residents and …

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Keegan Pleased With Snowstorm Cleanup Efforts

The town administrator praised crews that worked through the weekend.

Department of Public Works crews worked through the weekend to clear snow, branches and trees from Dedham streets, and as many as 1,200 NStar customers lost power for a period of time. As of 8 p.m. Monday, that number dwindled to 101 as NStar crews worked Monday to repair power lines, according to the company's website. "A few trees came down, mostly big branches that fell on wires and knocked the wires down," Town Administrator William Keegan said. Keegan told Dedham Patch that he believed many of the outages were spread throughout the town and not clustered. "It is the smaller one that [NStar] tends to leave for last," Keegan said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. "They like to get whole streets on at a time and it gets prioritized …

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Oct. 31

Today's less snowy weather, trick-or-treating and MIAA field hockey playoffs announced.

"Five Things you Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance.

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Dedham Officials Evaluate Irene Response

Dedham will look to increase communication with NStar and help business owners prepare next time around.

Town officials met with NStar last week to review what could be done better during the next damaging storm. Town Administrator William Keegan said the town learned a lot from Topical Storm Irene, including more staffing at the emergency operations center and directing non-emergency calls away from central dispatch and to the EOC. Along with what the town could do better, Keegan told the Board of Selectmen on Thursday that he made recommendations to NStar on how they could've changed their response to Irene. "[We recommended to] increase two-way communication with the town and NStar before and during a storm by having a field operative or staff assigned to our community who can assist with power disconnects, downed wires and to apply triage…

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Question of the Day: How Do You Rate Irene Response?

Let us know your feedback in the comment section.

With more than 5,000 losing power in Dedham due to Sunday's Tropical Storm Irene, Dedham fire, police and public works personnel were slammed responding to down wires, destroyed trees and blocked roads. Many residents went two and three days without power as NSTAR worked across eastern Massachusetts to restore electricity to their customers. How do you rate the response by both town workers and NSTAR to Sunday's storm? Let us know in the comment section below.

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