Around Town

Eversource Invites School Children to Enter Energy Challenge

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The following information was provided by Eversource:

 Eversource invites Massachusetts students to demonstrate their energy efficiency knowledge by entering its seventh annual Eversource Challenge. The competition promotes energy conservation, energy efficiency and sustainability and is open to kindergarten to high school students in Eversource’s Massachusetts electric service territory. Deadline for registration is March 17, 2020. All entries must be received or postmarked by March 27, 2020. “Year after year, our students continue to amaze us with their creativity and innovative energy efficiency ideas,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Penni Conner.

Around Town

Eversource Hosting Open House on Tree Pruning in Watertown

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Representatives from Eversource will host an open house to share details about their vegetation management and pruning in Watertown on Sept. 27, 2018. Eversource sent out the following information:

EVERSOURCE Vegetation Management Open House

DATE:  Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018

TIME:  5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION:  Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, Watertown
Watertown Savings Bank Room

Join EVERSOURCE for an Informational meeting on the pruning efforts in Watertown by the company. EVERSOURCE will be pruning trees this fall throughout sections of Watertown to maintain reliability and safe delivery of energy.

Around Town

Main Street to Remain Closed for Oil Spill Cleanup, Will Reopen This Weekend

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The spill of mineral oil over the surface of Main Street will take a few more days to clean up, meaning the stretch of road will remain closed through Saturday at the earliest, said Watertown Public Works Superintendent Gerry Mee. 

The oil must be cleaned off the road surface, and the remaining oil (from the casing of an Eversource electrical line) must be removed before the line can be repaired. The process is a lengthy one, Mee said. “They have to freeze the line above and below the point where it broke to stop the last oil from leaking out,” Mee said. “The freezing process takes 24 hours.” To clean the road, sand is put down followed by Speedy Dry, which soaks up the oil, and then the area must be power brushed and swept up, Mee said.

Around Town

Utilities: Combination of Factors Brought Down Utility Poles on Arsenal St.

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A mix of strong winds and the force of one pole falling led to the failure of several poles on Arsenal Street during last week’s Nor’easter, according to the utilities. The utility poles along Arsenal Street are co-owned by Verizon and Eversource, said Howard Waterman, from Verizon Corporate Communications. “We jointly own those poles with Eversource, and we worked quickly with them and others attached to the poles to clear the area and restore Verizon service to those impacted,” Waterman said. Eversource spokesman Michael Durand said that a combination of factors led to the multiple broken poles. “The damage was storm related, with strong wind gusts initially snapping one pole that had four transformers on it,” Durand said.

Government

Find Out About Major Utility Project on North Beacon, Arsenal and Louise Streets

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A major utility project that will impact all of Louise Street and parts of North Beacon and Arsenal streets will be discussed during a community meeting on May 17 hosted by Eversource and National Grid. The project includes work by both utilities on Louise Street, National Grid gas main replacement on North Beacon Street and Eversource electrical work on Arsenal Street. Planning for the work began five or six years ago when Eversource began planning to build a new substation in Brighton, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon. “It is important for Watertown to be connected into that to bring service into Watertown,” Magoon told the Town Council in April. Eversource will install four manholes and more than 2,800 feet of electrical conduit.

Eversource

Pickup Truck Knocks Down Utility Pole, Knocks Out Power to Hundreds

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A pickup truck swerved off a West Watertown road and struck a utility pole, knocking out power to nearly 200 in the area. 

The accident occurred around 6:40 a.m. Friday and reportedly involved a commercial van. The white full-sized pickup hit the pole on Philip Darch Road, about a block from Lexington Street. The pole broke a few feet from the bottom, fell, and took down power and other utility lines. No injuries were reported, according to Watertown Police. An Eversource official said that about 175 customers in the area lost power.

Around Town

Power Outages in West Watertown and Waltham Due to Squirrel

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Thousands of customers in Watertown and Waltham lost power Thursday because of a squirrel, Eversource officials said. The outages were reported about 11:30 a.m., and nearly 4,000 customers, including about 3,000 in Watertown, lost power when a squirrel “came into contact” with Eversource equipment. Most of the power was restored within an hour.

Elections

LETTER: Tree Advocates Brace for Tree Prunings by Eversource

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Hi, Trees for Watertown members and friends:

Eversource (formerly NSTAR) is coming back to Watertown to utility-prune our street trees starting Monday, February 29.  Citizen attention can really help to protect our street trees from damaging and disfiguring pruning during this utility pruning cycle. The Problem

Eversource’s official utility pruning standard specifies removal of all tree branches within 10 to 15 feet of high voltage wires. Utility pruning to Eversource’s standard results in canopy removal far in excess of recommended aboricultural guidelines for preserving street tree health. Arboricultural guidelines recommend pruning no more than 25 percent of a young tree’s healthy canopy, less in older trees, and even less — if any — in mature trees stressed by poor soil or confined soil volume and limited moisture access. The majority of trees providing vital canopy over our urban streets fall in this category.