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Connecticut Senate Dems Eye Energy Upgrades Before Future Storm Hits

HARTFORD, CT (CBSNewYork) - Gov. Dan Malloy's Two Storm Panel has outlined the steps it believes Connecticut has to take to prepare for the next big storm.

WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau On The Story

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Now, State Senate Democrats are fine-tuning the plan for action.

St. Sen. John Fonfara, chair of the energy and technology committee, says utilities must set standards and be held accountable if those standards are not met.

"If they don't respond in the manner that we have agreed to and required of them, that they'll be penalties," Fonfara told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.

The plan would also require utilities to revise their plans for better response from other states and private contractors. Fonfara says the plan is to increase the utility field workforce by at least 500 percent during these power emergencies.

They also want to provide power, or microgrids, to key community area, such as nursing homes, grocery stores, and gas stations.

It's an ambitious agenda, and an expensive one.

But Fonfara says, "We won't see a huge increase in rates in order to implement this. The public wouldn't stand for it. Our economy wouldn't stand for it.

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