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Light Pole Confusion: Meriden Neighbors Shed Light On Months Long Problem

Residents living in the Paddock Village Condo complex expressed their safety concerns over a light pole outage back in February, but it took months to get it resolved.

Some residents living in the Paddock Village Condo complex in Meriden are a little on edge. They say for seven months, a portion of the property has been in the dark.

“I can’t seem to get it repaired,” said Jane, who represents the Paddock Village Condo Association. Jane has been leading the charge to get it fixed.

She said residents expressed their safety concerns over the light pole outage back in February. That’s when she reached out to Eversource about the problem.

“You could fall. You can’t see. You certainly can’t use the dumpster,” said Jane. “It’s dangerous.“

Jane said she documented the number of times she called Eversource for services from February to July of this year. Jane made note of each ticket number, and her conversations with Eversource’s customer service representatives.

“A couple of times they said it was fixed. It was not. It’s just very frustrating,” said Jane.

After going back and forth with Eversource’s street light outage department, Jane said the customer service rep told her crews had been out to the area a few times and repairs would be resolved soon.

Fed up, Jane reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds.

It wasn’t until Responds started asking questions that Jane and Eversource realized they were talking about two different poles.

Spokesperson Mitch Gross told us:

“The issue was that two utility poles at Paddock Village were being referred to as “Pole #1.” Our Pole #1 is near the entrance to the complex – it is ours and we are responsible for its maintenance. The condo association also has a utility pole they had been referring to as Pole #1. It is located in another area of the property, near dumpsters and is their responsibility. There was also a billing issue regarding the condo association’s pole #1. We contacted the property manager, clarified who owns and is responsible for which pole, and worked with her to straighten out the billing issue. Both poles and the lights attached to each were checked and both are working properly.”

As a result of our involvement, Eversource worked with the property manager to get the light pole up and running.

“Greatly appreciate it. Absolutely,” said Jane. “All we want is the light to work and that’s the bottom line.“

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