Power is Back on for Most Canton NSTAR Customers

Going into the fifth day , there are 37 Canton customers that remain power-less as of Wednesday afternoon. NSTAR is reporting that the .4% of its Canton customers will have power restored by tonight.

As of 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, "7,200 of NSTAR's 1.1 million customers are without power," according to the utility company.

The knocked down trees and power lines throughout the Bay State. Luckily, most of Canton had power restored prior to today.

However, many of those same customers were also hit by , when folks were left in the dark for a week.

Now, more timely than ever, the state Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is holding public meetings to investigate the response of the utility companies post-Irene.

The DPU is holidng four public meetings in Brockton, Barnstable, New Bedford and Framingham and will collect written public comment until 5:00 p.m. on November 23, according to a release from the DPU.

The hearings, which were set up post-Irene and prior to the October storm, include reviews of each power company’s post-storm report.

"In response to customer and municipal concerns, the DPU also opened investigations on September 15 into National Grid and focusing on the companies’ efforts to restore electric power, including their communications with affected communities," the DPU stated.

"The investigations will determine whether the companies complied with DPU regulations and fully implemented their Emergency Response Plans, which were last filed in May 2011," the DPU said.

 The upcoming DPU meetings include one for National Grid and three for NSTAR.

A National Grid public meeting is being held Tuesday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. at Massasoit Community College, Conference Center, Route 27, Crescent St., Brockton.

The NSTAR meetings are being held:

• Thursday, November 10 at 7:00 p.m. at Barnstable High School, Performing Arts Center, Barnstable
• Monday, November 14 at 7:00 p.m., at Keith Middle School, 225 Hathaway Blvd., New Bedford
• Wednesday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m. at Walsh Middle School, 301 Brook Street, Auditorium, Framingham

For more information, go to www.mass.gov/eea