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Extended Outage Credit and Reimbursement
What Are They?
Connecticut residential electric customers may be eligible for two types of extended power outage credits:
- Daily Outage Credit
- Food and Medicine Spoilage Reimbursement
These credits may become available if power restoration following a qualifying storm takes longer than 96 hours.
Do They Apply to Residential Customers, Commercial or Both?
Credits and reimbursements will be available for residential customers only.
What Type of Storm Triggers the Credits?
A storm may be deemed a qualifying storm if restoration lasts beyond 96 hours, measured from the start of damage assessment or when it is safe to begin restoration, not from the start of an individual outage. This starting point, if the storm qualifies, will be determined through a regulatory review process.
If 70% or more of Eversource customers are without power at the peak of an event, then the event does not qualify for the Daily Outage Credit or Food and Medicine Spoilage Reimbursement.
The conclusion of the emergency, and start of the 96-hour clock, will be determined based on, among other things, information from the National Weather Service, declarations from state or federal agencies and meteorological data used to determine when it was safe for Eversource to deploy resources to the field.
Within seven days of the start of the emergency, we'll submit to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) an estimate of when the emergency concluded using these criteria and other relevant data filed by Eversource. PURA must review and approve this estimate.
How are the 96 Hours Calculated?
The 96-hour outage time frame is calculated from the start of damage assessment or when it is safe to begin restoration, not from the start of an individual outage.
After a storm has passed, conditions like impassable roads, high winds or other potential safety hazards are considered before crews can be sent out to start assessing damage.
The conclusion of the emergency, and start of the 96-hour clock, will be determined based on, among other things, information from the National Weather Service, declarations from state or federal agencies and meteorological data used to determine when it was safe for Eversource to deploy resources to the field.
Within seven days of the start of the emergency, we'll submit to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) an estimate of when the emergency concluded using these criteria. PURA must review and approve this estimate.
A 96-hour outage must be consecutive. If at any point power was restored for more than 12 hours, the customer must be without power for another 96 hours before becoming eligible for credit and/or reimbursement. No partial credits will be issued.
How Are the Two Different?
Daily Outage Credit
The outage credit is a $25 bill credit for each period of 24 hours after 96 hours that a customer is without power.
Customers may become eligible for the daily outage credit once they reach 120 hours without power and if the storm is deemed a qualifying storm in a regulatory review process. This is because the credit is applied for each 24-hour period, which begins once the 96-hour milestone has been reached.
96 hours + 24 hours = 120 hours = $25 credit
96 hours + 48 hours = 144 hours = $50 credit
96 hours + 72 hours = 168 hours = $75 credit
The 96-hour period is calculated from the time damage assessment begins or when it is safe to begin restoration, not from the time the outage begins. No partial credits will be issued.
Food and Medicine Spoilage Reimbursement
The food and medicine spoilage reimbursement is a reimbursement up to $250 for customers that experienced a food or medicine loss due to an extended power outage of 96 hours or more during a qualifying storm as deemed in a regulatory review process.
Loss of food or medicine must be due to an electrical outage caused by an Eversource distribution system failure.
Customers are required to apply for this reimbursement through a claim form that will be reviewed by an Eversource representative.
Customers become eligible for this claim 96 hours from the time damage assessment begins or when it is safe to restore power, not from the time their outage begins.
Daily Outage Credit
How do I qualify?
To be eligible you must be without power for a total of 120 hours from the time damage assessment begins or when it is safe to restore power, not from the time your outage begins, during a qualifying storm as deemed in a regulatory review process.
If at any point power was restored for more than 12 hours, you must be without power for another 96 consecutive hours before becoming eligible for a credit. No partial credits will be issued.
The credit will be automatically applied to your bill. The use of an emergency generator does not disqualify you from the Daily Outage Credit.
When is it applied to my bill?
Any credit would be applied to a customer's account within 60 calendar days of the day that the restoration is substantially complete, but this timing can be impacted if we submit a filing to PURA asking for the credits to be waived.
What if it's not automatically applied?
If you believe you're eligible for the credit and it was not automatically applied to your account within the 60-day timeframe, you can complete a form online or submit it by mail.
Your account will be reviewed, and you will be notified by email or letter if you do or do not qualify for the credit.
If denied, you have the opportunity to appeal this decision. Daily Outage Credit claims will be accepted and reviewed for up to 150 calendar days after substantial completion of the event.
Food and Medicine Spoilage Reimbursement
How do I qualify?
To be eligible you must be without power for more than 96 hours during a qualifying storm and lose food and/or medicine due to this outage. The 96 hours begin from the time damage assessment begins or when it is safe to restore power, not from the time your outage begins during a qualifying storm as deemed through a regulatory review process.
You must apply for the reimbursement within 60 days from the event's substantially complete date.
Customers are required to apply for this reimbursement through our online form. You can also print and mail a hard copy to us. The use of an emergency generator does not disqualify you from reimbursement.
A representative will review the form and contact you if needed to discuss the claim. You will be notified by email or letter if you do or do not qualify.
If denied, you have the option to appeal this decision.
What documentation is required?
The claim form must be completed with a list of the items lost. No further documentation is required.
When is the reimbursement paid?
If your claim is approved, you will be paid up to a maximum of $250 by check or account credit (if requested) within the later of 60 calendar days from the day on which restoration was substantially complete or 45 days following receipt of a properly submitted, eligible claim form.
But this timing can be impacted if we submit a filing to PURA asking for the reimbursements to be waived. In this case, if our waiver application is unsuccessful, the reimbursement would be provided after PURA's decision.