At a hearing next week, Boston councilors will demand answers from NStar on two recent transformer problems in the Back Bay, one of which left much of the neighborhood without power for several days.
Council President Steve Murphy says he wants more than just soothing words from the utility - he wants somebody independent of the company to start monitoring the way it delivers power in Boston.
UPDATE, 12:45 p.m.: Power started coming back on.
The same substation where a transformer exploded in March shorted out today, darkening stores, offices and homes across the Back Bay again and causing traffic havoc as signals went dead.
Power disappeared at 7:45 at Hemenway and Westland, our East Fens correspondent reports:
Damn it, we just refilled the fridge and fixed the computers.
Drew, however, reports:
Seems highly localized. I'm maybe 200 yards away and power on here (for now, anyhow).
NStar has declared the Blackout of 2012 a "normal" event and won't pay anybody for their losses due to it, the Globe reports. "People normally have their own insurance," the company CEO said.
NStar reports it'll be shutting off power to 8,000 customers (and remember, each "customer" could represent several people) starting around 3 a.m. to reconnect them to the power grid:
Beacon to Boylston between Kenmore & Copley.
10:05 another tantalizing 30 seconds of power but I think we're the last in the hood without it
my neighbor a block away wrote
"Lights! Hot water! Internet porn! Hallelujah!"
but we're still cold
6:45:
NStar says everybody really has power; Fenway resident begs to differ
Around 5:30, the media started reporting that NStar had restored power to everybody affected by the Blackout of 2012.
At 6:45, though, I got e-mail from a Fenway resident:
East Fens still without power at Hemenway and Westland.
NStar is lying to the Mayor's Office and the media.
At least three manholes along Huntington Ave. exploded this afternoon, sending literal shudders through the nearby 101 Huntington, which has lapsed in and out of electrical service today.
At 3:46, Bonnie O. tweeted:
Why did we just hear and feel an explosion outside from inside 101 Huntington? Fire trucks outside near Marriott.
Move toward the light.
Myron Freeman captured Newbury Street in the dark last night, before power came back around 11 p.m.
Copyright Myron Freeman. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.
The fire not long after it started. Photo by Bosfiddle.
At 9:13, Boston EMS tweeted the scene was clear of smoke.
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