BWL Gets Tongue-Lashing From Lawmakers

The controversy over the ineffectiveness of the Lansing Board of Water and Light during last month's ice storm has now garnered attention of state lawmakers.  While not directly involved in the investigation into what went wrong in the response that left hundreds of thousands in the dark---some for nearly two weeks--legislators are warning that they are watching to see how it all plays out.

LBWL officials, and specifcally General Manager Peter Lark, were called out for not having an effective plan of action leading up to the ice storm which has been called one of the worst in decades.  They read statistics from other major utility companies in Michigan--Consumers Energy and DTE Energy--of the calls for additional help that went out from their companies more than a week before the storm hit and the millions of dollars spent in making improvements to powerlines and circuits.

BWL officials admit they were unprepared for a response of that magnitude but are promising more line workers, dispatchers and communication's plans in the future to prevent a repeat.  A ten-member panel, to investigate fully the problems and work to find those solutions, was announced earlier in the week.  They promise a final report by the end of March.