So it began

And it’s not over yet. As of this writing, there are still people in the Northwest Corner without power, or with spotty power, as Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) crews struggle to complete the seemingly endless task of pulling down tree limbs and replacing wires after the devastating autumn snowstorm of Oct. 29, which actually merited a name: Winter Storm Alfred. The snow, which ranged across the region from 10 to 20 or so inches, has melted with relatively mild temperatures, but the havoc wreaked on the Connecticut power grid has remained.Should it just be accepted that Mother Nature has now done what CL&P could not: trimmed back tree limbs and branches from electrical wires across the state? This certainly was the hard way of doing that. The investigations and reviews of the way CL&P responded to this extraordinary storm are necessary, and need to be done with objectivity and clear eyes. If line crews have been cut too far back, as surely has been the case in times of emergency during the past several months, then CL&P needs to swallow some of its profits and hire more of these specialized employees back. It is understood that there have been unusually devastating storms recently, and that those who have cleaned up in their aftermaths have worked hard and long hours. Yet with the highest electrical rates in the nation, customers of CL&P deserve better explanations and action than has happened in the wake of those storms, especially Winter Storm Alfred.