PURA hearing presses Eversource on rising storm‑response costs, crew hires and time‑sheet practices

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority heard detailed questioning March 31 about Eversource’s storm‑response spending, how the company staffs large events and how it records and pays contractor invoices. Commissioners, the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) and PURA staff pressed the company to explain rising per‑event costs, multiple work orders for single events, and delays in contractor invoices and timesheets.

At the hearing, OCC’s Kim White pointed to specific exhibit pages and asked company witnesses to reconcile entries that showed travel, tolls and equipment‑movement charges that appear inconsistent with travel statements. White said she had mis‑remembered one filing location and clarified the record before probing travel and toll receipts tied to March invoices. Company witness Jenna Turner read detailed tree‑crew time‑sheet entries into the record, saying that on 02/23 a crew billed 13 hours (12 recorded on the work‑location portion) and that the crew met a response specialist lineman that evening. Turner said supporting documentation would be supplemented to the exhibit record.

Why costs are higher now

The OCC and PURA questioned whether the utility’s costs per trouble spot have increased over the multi‑year review period and what explains any rise. Company…