Now What?

Now that the power is back on, the question becomes: What to do with Unitil or the electricity situation in Fitchburg?

The quick answer, of course, is "kick Unitil out." I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem like an easy process.

For a little background, check out the first handful of paragraphs of this story. I can't imagine much has changed in terms of infrastructure improvements in the last year or so.

So if no one wants to buy Unitil because it's too small and there's too much upgrading that needs to be done, the next option might be a municipal light department. There are a number of MLDs in the state, including next-door Princeton. But most of those are smaller communities, although Holyoke and Braintree are munis. It's not unheard of in a community this size, but certainly outside the norm.

There's been a rumor going around that the city would take the lines and poles by eminent domain, and then hook up with a new provider or muni. The mayor shot that rumor down this week, and in doing so questioned whether or not the city would be a good light manager. She pointed specifically to Unitil's biggest problem after the storm -- having enough capacity (work crews) to handle an emergency. It's a question worth pondering.

I did a brief Assessor's Office search of Unitil property (it's under Fitchburg Gas & Electric in that system, by the way), and found 55 properties. They look like a lot of easements and vacant properties. One was $500, one was over $140,000. I can't say I looked at them all, but got enough of a sense to see their property holdings are easily over $1 million, and probably in the $2 million range (if you do the math, please share). I couldn't get a sense of the value of the poles and wires -- an interesting question considering the state's proposal to allow communities to tax that infrastructure.

Someone asked earlier this week how the Fitchburg holdings compared with the rest of the Unitil system. According to its website, Unitil has 25,000 customers in Massachusetts. If I remember right from the storm updates, about 18,000 of those are in Fitchburg. All the Mass system is under FG&E, so it might need to be sold in one chunk. The New Hampshire holdings have 72,000 customers. The new Maine holding is 52,000 customers.

So, now what? Are there any real sale options? What's the confidence level on a municipal? There are going to be some hearings, but what's the long-term goal, other than ripping Unitil a new one? Does anyone think Unitil will take a beating, learn from it, and become a better provider? Or will the hearings offer little more than a chance to rail for a while? There's some time to figure some of this out before and during the hearings, but at some point some goals or targets -- A better Unitil? A new company? A municipal? Stuck with minor changes? -- need to be created.

The Department of Public Utilities says it doesn't remember a municipality changing electric companies/system in recent history. Fitchburg is really kind of left at the leaping-off point of a situation no one has ever really tried before. So, what's the goal, and how do we get there?