UI Completes Fair Haven System Upgrade

The United Illuminating Company recently completed a year-long project to upgrade the electrical system serving more than 4,000 customers in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood.

“This recently completed initiative provides a more modern electric infrastructure for residents of Fair Haven, so that they can continue to receive the high level of safety and reliability that they have come to expect from UI,” said James P. Torgerson, president and chief executive officer of UI’s parent company, UIL Holdings Corporation.

The project, which kicked off with a community meeting in February, upgraded the 4,160-volt electrical circuits that had served the neighborhood for 60 years. That meant replacing 240 poles, 91 transformers and more than 120,000 feet of wire.

The new system meets current safety standards and operates at 13,800 volts, a standard voltage for modern electric infrastructure.

New TV Spot Highlights UIL’s Natural Gas Investments

UIL Holdings is putting the spotlight on its investments in natural gas infrastructure in a new television commercial, now airing in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The spot, called “Kicking Gas,” features crews from all three of UIL’s natural gas companies: The Southern Connecticut Gas Company, Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation and The Berkshire Gas Company.

SCG Introduces Natural Gas Service in Deep River

Natural gas service has arrived in Deep River, Connecticut.

The Southern Connecticut Gas Company, a subsidiary of UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE: UIL), announced that the environmentally friendly fuel started flowing through 4 miles of new gas main that was recently extended into the town.

It’s the first time natural gas utility service has been available in Deep River. It will initially serve several municipal buildings, along with commercial, industrial and residential customers along its route. Deep River is the second new SCG franchise territory in as many years: Last year, the company introduced natural gas service in neighboring Essex.

Power Line Safety

The United Illuminating Company cares about your safety. If you see a downed power line, always assume it’s live and stay away. When working outside with ladders or trimming limbs, know where overhead power lines are and stay away. For more safety tips, visit uinet.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Natural Gas Is Now Flowing in East Hampton, CT

This spring, the Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation, a subsidiary of UIL Holdings Corporation, broke ground on a project to extend more than 9 miles of new natural gas main into East Hampton, Connecticut.

Why stop there?

CNG is pleased to announce that, as of this week, gas is flowing to approximately 11
miles of newly constructed natural gas main in East Hampton, for the first time making the safe and environmentally friendly fuel an option for many East Hampton residents and businesses.

Remembering Gloria: Honoring a Job Well Done

Line workers and other employees of The United Illuminating Company who worked during Hurricane Gloria received a unique memento in recognition of their successful efforts to restore electric service to 184,000 customers: a belt buckle.

It reads: “Sept. 27, 1985. Hurricane Gloria. United Illuminating.”

Remembering Gloria: Former Line Worker Recalls First Look at Storm’s Aftermath

Walter Booker didn’t even know where to start when he got his first look at the damage from Hurricane Gloria.

He’d worked his share of storms, having spent six years as a line worker, 1^st class, at UI.

But Gloria was his first hurricane.

He and his colleagues were eager to do what they’d been trained to do. They’d waited out the Sept. 27, 1985 storm, stocking up trucks and readying equipment while Gloria raged outside. As the day wore on, the swirling bands of tropical wind and rain eventually yielded to the sort of crisp, sunny day that often follows a tempest.

It was a beautiful afternoon — if you could ignore the devastation.

Remembering Gloria: The Threat from the Sea

When Hurricane Gloria roared across Connecticut’s shores on Sept. 27, 1985, it left a legacy of upturned trees, toppled poles and tangled power lines.

It also left something else: a salty coating of sea spray.

Unusual for a hurricane, Gloria brought relatively little rain to the region. But the storm’s high winds whipped up sea spray from the Long Island Sound and Atlantic Ocean and carried it inland.

And that created yet another set of problems for The United Illuminating Company, recalled Joe Thomas, UI’s vice president for Electric System Operations.

UI Retirees Remember Hurricane Gloria

The coffee was fresh at the Metro Diner in Stratford and the conversation drifted back 30 years, to a storm unlike any the UI retirees had ever experienced.

“It was the most damage I had ever seen,” said Joe Zorpette, a field engineer who retired in 1997. “We went out and everything was gone. The poles were just gone. We needed maps to see where the poles were.”

Remembering Gloria: Comparing the Storms

Hurricane Gloria was a first for many Connecticut residents.

It had been more than a dozen years since the last major tropical system crossed the state’s shores — and that storm, Agnes, had already weakened into a tropical storm by the time it reached Connecticut in June 1972.