Byline: Matthew Bruun

FITCHBURG - The $4.6 million in penalties proposed against Unitil by Attorney General Martha Coakley's office will hurt the utility without helping its customers avoid another prolonged outage such as the one that followed the December ice storm, according to Gary Sullivan President of Local 369 of the Utility Workers Union of America.

"It's not bad companies, it's this whole deregulated system that's forcing companies out of the maintenance business," said Sullivan President of the 3,500-member local. About 100 members of the union work for Unitil, Mr. Sullivan said yesterday.

He spoke out in response to Ms. Coakley's request to the state Department of Public Utilities to fine the New Hampshire-based utility for its performance after the ice storm. She cited lack of storm preparation and ineptitude.

Mr. Sullivan said consumers will suffer if the DPU levies the fines, because it will leave less money for maintenance.

"There's only so much money in these companies, and if you take $5 million, that's going to be less money we're going to have as workers to fix it," he said.

Utility providers were forced out of the power generation business by deregulation. 

Mr. Sullivan also issued a written statement yesterday in which he said the attorney general's office is wrong to single out Unitil when other utilities also experienced widespread power outages after the devastating storm "And if Unitil needs to improve its maintenance, tree trimming and communications as the AG alleges, then why cripple them financially with the largest fine in history?" he asked.

Mr. Sullivan said he wants to meet with Ms. Coakley's office to discuss another proposal, involving rate reductions for Unitil customers, with company funds dedicated to maintenance and communication system improvements. He said he also wants to see a fund established that would be administered to help those who are found to have suffered the worst in the storm. "The immediate concern is this shouldn't happen again," Mr. Sullivan said.