| Show Power Company Under Fire Norma Hendrickson Community Editor The storm continues for parent company compa- compa ny iy of Utah Power Light L Last t Tuesday company officials faced questions from Public Service Commission members city and county coulty officials and angry residents Many voiced concerns and frustration over extended extend extend- ed power ower outages during holiday snowstorms Thousands Thousands- suffered through th the storm without ana li Kt f l Some customers were without power for 5 days executive vice president Bill Landels acknowledged that the company did not take care of its customers This was not a good deal eal he said We are truly ruly sorry as a company camp Another employee pointed out that keeping the workforce required for emergencies such uch as this would be De costly cost cost- ly ly- Do customers want to pay to have crews available constantly when they would be needed only in extreme circumstances such as this The snow was extremely wet and heavy causing trees branches to disable power lines Additionally the company's company's company's compa compa- nys ny's computer system for reporting outages malfunctioned malfunctioned malfunctioned increasing irritation for customers without power Critical issues and questions questions questions ques ques- include Has maintained lines and equipment equipment equipment equip equip- ment adequately adequately Would a more aggressive trimming tree-trimming program prevent such out- out outages outages ages iges Do personnel and resources need to be moved from Portland to Salt Lake Have recent layoffs lay- lay layoffs offs eliminated the best- best trained rained personnel jC What went wrong with outage reporting system em tem What is the company's com- com the any's anys plan to correct problems Has there been a pattern of extended outages luring major storms All parties agree it will ake take months to investigate these hese and other issues |
