Unitil to Seek Rate Increase

Unitil officials told the Fitchburg Pride today that it will eventually seek a rate increase, partly to pay for some of the expenses borne out of the ice storm.

Begin hyperventilating... now.

The discussion over paying for the ice storm was one of a number of issues touched upon during an hour-long interview with CEO Robert Schoenberger and VP George Gantz.

Also discussed, in no particular order:

Some Ohio crews expected to help Unitil bailed, and that was a serious setback to repairs.

Changes should be made to how mutual aid is delivered to effected areas, perhaps not so much based on a utility's crews in the area, but on "worst/first" basis, where all available crews work on the biggest problems first, no matter the utility serving the area.

The estimated bills were based on past usage, but uses higher supply charges from a supply contract finalized over the summer. It's common practice, and adjustments will be made in January. Estimated payments -- even no payments -- are fine.

The company has no plans to get out of Massachusetts.

Schoenberger and Gantz said they felt Unitil was getting better in Fitchburg, and customers were responding, before the storm. Schoenberger acknowledged his company might never have a "love affair" in Fitchburg.

Unitil is working on improving call center operations.

Gantz said he was impressed with Mayor Lisa Wong's messaging and discipline following the storm. He was more evasive when discussing critical comments from public officials.

Schoenberger and Gantz acknowledge a two-pronged PR effort on the local and state level. Jeremy Crockford, from Unitil's new PR firm, O'Neill and Associates, said Boston media received early attention because much of their reporting was erroneous and needed corrections. Gantz described local media coverage as "aggressive," but "fair."

Those are some of the quick bulletpoints, if you're still seeing straight after the start. There's a story that hits on some of this stuff right now at the Pride Website. There will be a larger story in Friday's Pride, and on Friday we'll be putting the audio of the entire interview online for your weekend enjoyment.