You Have How Many Tens Of Thousands of Employees?

Several months ago, I came across a young man in an orange vest with a clipboard on N. 5th Street near Prospect who seemed to be inspecting utility poles, so I asked him what he was doing.  He told me that he lived in Saratoga Springs and worked for a company in North (or South) Carolina that had been hired by National Grid to take an inventory of all of their utility poles in Hudson.  He was making assessments of the poles, essentially giving them a grade, to give National Grid an idea which of their old poles needed to be replaced, as well as situations where a new pole is placed next to an old pole and years later the old pole is still standing (known as double pole).  I asked him why National Grid couldn't do this work themselves, given that they own every utility pole in Hudson and are such a large company.  He wasn't sure why, guessing that they were probably overwhelmed with other work.  Before parting, this friendly fellow told me that there were a lot of poles in Hudson in need of replacement and that there was no shortage of double poles.

National Grid is no doubt busy today dealing with downed poles and lines after the terrific gusts of wind we got in the area last night.  (For ten minutes or so during the storm, I thought a tornado might be approaching.)   The first sign of damage from the storm that I came across during my morning walk today was a National Grid utility pole on N. 6th Street, at the driveway down the hill to Oakdale.  Fortunately, the pole fell away from the street AND there was a tree in its way strong enough to keep it from falling completely over.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, including National Grid, that a strong wind knocked that utility pole over -- look at how old it is!  It should have been replaced at least 15 years ago.  I wonder what grade that guy working for National Grid's subcontractor gave that old pole on 6th Street now needing immediate attention by National Grid.  It should have been FAIL -- REPLACE NOW.  ANCIENT!!! COMPLETELY ROTTED BELOW GROUND!

The driver of the car said to me, "That
pole looks like it's about 70 years old."

National Grid is a behemoth of a multinational utility company, based in the UK and the Northeast US (New York and Massachusetts only). It has about 18,000 employees in the US and 9,000 overseas. It began its gas line replacement project in Hudson on the 200 block of State Street over two months ago. Some days, still, there is no one working there, not a soul. The road is all torn up and their machinery just sits, with cones everywhere. For months. Fortunately, perhaps, they hired a contractor to do the gas line replacement work on Green Street that is snarling traffic, creating detours, and chewing up the street. At least they show up every day to get this project finished in a timely fashion.

No kidding, National Grid's equipment has been in 
front of 217 State Street for at least two weeks.  As
today, it is rare to see anyone working there. 
How is this possible?
 

I have spoken to more than a few people working for National Grid's contractors about how well National Grid operates.  Their reactions are almost always negative, never positive.  The other day in front of the Speedway gas station on Green Street, with no work going on, I spotted a hole in the street that had recently been cut and that needed attention.  I saw one person in a vest who was working for the contractor on National Grid's gas line work.  I asked him why there had been no work going on at that intersection for a few days.  He said that National Grid was supposed to "cut a line across the street 3 days ago" but had not shown up.  "How is that possible?" I asked.  He rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's National Grid, they do things on their own schedule."  That is the prevailing sentiment about National Grid, at least that I have heard.  Too big to mess with, they do what they want when they want to.

That's Robert Perry without a vest and 
wearing Crocs, trying to keep on top 
of National Grid's gas line project

In spite of the number of National Grid trucks and employees I see in Hudson every day, I really don't think they have things under control.  Let's see if tonight's expected winds bring down any more of their utility poles that should have been replaced long ago.

National Grid installed a new pole along
Prospect Avenue early this year.  The old pole,
 on left, is still there with wires still attached to it.