Hundreds of Boston College students and other Brighton residents were without power, some for more than a day, late last week.
On December 9, around 3 p.m., a transformer failed on Commonwealth Avenue, NSTAR confirmed. A second transformer failed shortly later. A total of 177 customers were without power for 12 hours, and another 18 were without power for 5 hours. Dozens more were without power from anywhere to a half hour to a few hours, and NSTAR spokesman Dennis Galvam.
One of the manholes that needed to be accessed to restore power was blocked by debris, so a cleanup crew had to be called in, Galvam said. This added to the delay in restoring power to all residents.
“Around 3 a.m., the workers gave a shout of celebration, and the electricity was restored,” said Brighton resident Glenn Willis. “I got up a few hours later, and worked until 8:30am, when the electricity then went out again.” His power wasn’t fully restored until Thursday afternoon.
Galvam said that additional problems with the repair meant 200 more customers were without power from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
Boston College junior Lisa Relle said the power went out on her block in Brighton, which is home to dozens of off-campus BC students.
“Students have been scrambling to find places to sleep and do work during this busy time of year,” Relle said.
Willis said he was disappointed when he called NSTAR and didn’t get a direct answer about when the power would be back.
“I was a bit stunned at NSTAR’s communicative incompetence,” he said. “It is not fair to consumers, who have little choice in the matter of electrical providers, to keep us completely ‘in the dark’ for so long in terms of information, particularly during such cold weather.”
Galvam said that the NSTAR call center was receiving a lot of calls from customers last week and that the weather was particularly foul, adding to problems. He said that customers can always call 800-592-2000 with questions.
Oh it’s just discraceful!