Anger at National Grid Hearing in Foxborough

Angry and concerned Foxborough residents let their feelings be known about their displeasure over the power problems that the entire town has been experiencing over the last several months at with the town's board of selectmen.

"Go home tonight [National Grid] and think about those people here tonight [with troubling stories during the outage]. Its about those people who could have lost their lives due to National Grid's negligence," said Foxborough resident Deborah Stewart.

National Grid's standard answer to each and every voiced concerned was, "we do not control the weather."

Frustrated Foxborough residents while agreeing that they do not control the weather said that they do control the power and need to do something to keep it on.

Even when Foxborough residents with special medical needs relayed their tales of their inability to get in contact with National Grid, National Grid's response was in effect, "we did the best we could."

"National Grid I need you to know and understand there are people here with disabilities. You need to revamp your emergency system. I have called several times over and over," said Foxborough resident Tony Williams.

"This is serious; I could die," noted Williams.

Kathy Lyford, vice president of New England operations for the company, agreed that the system "needs to be fixed." 

One woman spoke of the financial and emotional burden that the power outages have caused.

"I lost electricity Saturday...and came home Tuesday afternoon to check on my house only to find that my door had been kicked in and everything was gone."

The high school auditorium consistently filled with "boos" throughout the evening, switched to dead silence as the women spoke, a sombering reality of the power outages.

Foxborough residents refer their anger to the fact that they wanted National Grid to acknowledge there is a series problem in the town of Foxborough. But National grid representatives neither confirmed nor denied that and no commitments were made that similar loss of power incidents will not occur in the future.

The last several months has been an extremely frustrating time for Foxborough residents, confirmed in the hundreds of residents who showed up for the meeting, than almost any municipality in the commonwealth, as Foxborough seems to be bearing the brunt of chronic power outages.

Town selectman, Town Manager Kevin Paicos, Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, and Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole were unanimous in their criticism and expressed frustration equal to town residents who expressed serve dissatisfaction with national Grid services.

Town Manager Kevin Paicos spoke bluntly towards the conclusion of the Q&A session about the only way that change can "really" happen.

"The problem is that investor owned utility is [about] profit [and] making that a priority. They [National Grid] do not exist to provide service," spoke a concerned Paicos.  "Their primary responsibility is to make the people who own the company money."

"If you really want change, then you go to get the Massachusetts legislature and go get them to pass bill 869."

Bill 869 is an act "relative to the establishment of municipal lighting authorities." Passing Bill 869 would essentially give municipalities, such as Foxborough, options and the opportunity to explore power options beyond National Grid.

Other local municipalities that have their own power, such as Mansfield, have reported far less problems with the weather and the speed in which power is restored.

"If legislature passes this, it would create competition into the utility industry and I guarantee you it would create a better product," said Paicos. "This law has got to pass and is long overdue – 100 years overdue."

Foxborough residents who have lost food, pipes and other property may find some relief in the proposed legislation to penalize utilities that cannot restore power promptly.

Town officials will be working with National Grid over the next few days to discuss tree trimming programs and other aspects of the town's power infrastructure. Selectmen plan to report back information gathered from National Grid at their next selectmen meeting.