We Know the Grid
BECAUSE WE WORK THE GRID
State legislators have enacted a “Take Back The Grid” initiative aimed at improving Connecticut’s electrical grid. We’re your local linemen who work the grid everyday. We’re also your neighbors, friends and family. We’re currently stuck in the middle of an ill-advised game of politics in our state that looks to strip our jobs and our safety at work.
Save Connecticut Jobs
We believe that Connecticut’s current plans for our electrical grid will strip residents of their jobs as well as create additional safety risks for already dangerous work. Please help us have a voice in our future.
Need to report or check on a power outage?
Restoring power is what we do. We know how important this is, which is why we will continue to do our job to the best of our ability — getting the lights back on as soon as safely possible.
Frontline Workers Being Silenced
We’re the IBEW in Connecticut, and we work the frontlines of maintaining the state’s electrical power.
Yet, we’ve been closed out from many of the vital discussions around making our state’s electrical grid stronger and better positioned for Connecticut’s tomorrow. We’re concerned about uninformed or misinformed decisions being made that will only serve to weaken the grid, eliminate local jobs and hurt our state’s economy – all for the sake of a political catchphrase.
We believe the voice of Connecticut’s working men and women matters, and that’s why we’re asking for your help to ensure our voice is heard.
Save Connecticut Jobs
We believe the state’s current plans for our electrical grid will strip Connecticut residents of their jobs, as well as create greater safety risks for us at work. Please help us have a voice in our future.
Concerns with Connecticut’s Energy Plans
In an effort to create a more affordable and reliable electrical grid, we fear state lawmakers may be doing the opposite for Connecticut taxpayers:
96 Hour Penalty
Bureaucrats who’ve never worked on a power line are trying to tell us how power must be restored and arbitrarily decided 96 hours was enough time…even following natural disasters. This places added pressure on frontline workers to get the job done in a manner that favors a ticking clock over their own personal safety and the safety of co-workers and other first responders. This rule is not safe and could lead to a lineman getting killed on the job.
Inferior Work Standards
Rather than working with Connecticut’s electrical workforce to improve our state’s energy grid, current plans create a system that encourages out-of-state contractors (with no familiarity of our systems) to underbid future improvement projects and use less experienced workers. These plans also eliminate the specialized, industry-leading training standards the IBEW believes are needed to maintain our grid.
Loss of Jobs & Tax Revenue
By creating a system that will likely cut us out of work by using non-wire alternatives, IBEW members in Connecticut will lose jobs to out-of-state contractors and their less experienced workforces. Plus, eliminating work for Eversource also eliminates tax revenue for the state of Connecticut and local municipalities, as Eversource is the state’s largest taxpayer.
The players
Multiple groups have interests in Connecticut’s Take Back Our Grid initiative. Here are the key parties involved:
PURA
The Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) has been tasked with the mission of modernizing the state’s electric grid and holding utilities accountable. Among their plans are pursuing statewide initiatives to advance electric cars and alternative energy.
Lawmakers
Gov. Lamont and Connecticut state lawmakers are pursuing the Take Back Our Grid initiative. It will make utilities performance-based, as well as encourage alternative energy sources from third party companies.
Eversource
Many Connecticut electrical workers are employed as support staff by Eversource, the provider of electricity and gas to many Connecticut residents. PURA and state legislators want to hold Eversource accountable for the service they provide, but many of the initiatives were rushed through the review process.
About us
We’re the IBEW (The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) in Connecticut, and we are your friends, family and neighbors. Our organization is made up of local Connecticut residents and taxpayers, employed by Eversource and other electrical contractors, to keep your lights on and power flowing into your home 24/7.
It’s our belief that the current actions taken against Eversource were done in an effort to curry public opinion and win votes with little quality research into its actual impact on residents of the state, as well as the state’s electrical grid.
Further, some of the plans seem to disregard a number of well established benchmarks in regards to emergency response capabilities in the wake of major storms that affect the lives and safety of our members.
IBEW Local 42 Connecticut
IBEW Local 420 Connecticut
IBEW Local 457 Connecticut
Get Involved!
We are asking for local men and women of organized labor, as well as Connecticut’s family of first responders, to stand with us in Connecticut and demand the voice of frontline workers be heard by state lawmakers, as well as PURA. We believe this is a fight not only to preserve our jobs, but also our very safety in the field.
Sign Our Petition
Help Our Voice Be Heard
More Details About Take Back Our Grid Act
Don’t Let Rushed Energy Policy Create:
Dangerous work environments that could injure or kill
Reduced work and wages for Connecticut residents
Reduced taxes paid by the state’s largest tax-paying entity
Save Connecticut Jobs
We believe Connecticut’s current plans for our electrical grid will strip residents of their jobs as well as increase safety risks at work. Please help us have a voice in our future.