State utility regulators gave about 70 gas company workers a second reprieve by forbidding layoffs that had been scheduled to start Monday.
The Department of Public Utility Control Commission on Friday issued a temporary order barring job cuts by Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, saying the agency had not finished its investigation of the cuts' likely effects on service and safety.
The workers respond to gas leaks, repair meters, dispatch service personnel and carry out other tasks.
The stay will remain in effect at least until Jan. 4, when the DPUC plans to release draft conclusions, and possibly until a final report expected Jan. 20.
The DPUC last month allowed a September layoff ban to expire when the companies agreed not to execute layoffs before Friday's hearing. In the interim, the companies said layoffs would begin Monday.
John Dobos, a spokesman for the companies owned by Energy East of Maine, declined Friday to comment.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who pressed for the latest stay and the earlier one, said the companies suggested that they "might apply to remove the stay at some date in the indefinite future."
Still, he called Friday's action "a huge victory for the public interest."
"The beginning of the winter storm season, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, is probably the worst time to fire workers who are essentially first responders," he said.
The DPUC said it was still gathering and evaluating evidence. The companies insufficiently answered questions related to the frequency of gas leaks, trends in response times and how the cuts would affect those times, Blumenthal said.
As before, the DPUC relied on a broad state law giving it authority to "keep fully informed" about "all public service companies" regarding their ability to carry out their duties safely, according to agency spokesman Philip Dukes.
"The DPUC is charged, on behalf of the public, with determining that the companies' proposed workforce reduction will not jeopardize the provision of safe and reliable service," Commissioner Amalia Vazquez Bzdyra said in a statement.
The Department of Public Utility Control Commission on Friday issued a temporary order barring job cuts by Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, saying the agency had not finished its investigation of the cuts' likely effects on service and safety.
The workers respond to gas leaks, repair meters, dispatch service personnel and carry out other tasks.
The stay will remain in effect at least until Jan. 4, when the DPUC plans to release draft conclusions, and possibly until a final report expected Jan. 20.
The DPUC last month allowed a September layoff ban to expire when the companies agreed not to execute layoffs before Friday's hearing. In the interim, the companies said layoffs would begin Monday.
John Dobos, a spokesman for the companies owned by Energy East of Maine, declined Friday to comment.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who pressed for the latest stay and the earlier one, said the companies suggested that they "might apply to remove the stay at some date in the indefinite future."
Still, he called Friday's action "a huge victory for the public interest."
"The beginning of the winter storm season, on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, is probably the worst time to fire workers who are essentially first responders," he said.
The DPUC said it was still gathering and evaluating evidence. The companies insufficiently answered questions related to the frequency of gas leaks, trends in response times and how the cuts would affect those times, Blumenthal said.
As before, the DPUC relied on a broad state law giving it authority to "keep fully informed" about "all public service companies" regarding their ability to carry out their duties safely, according to agency spokesman Philip Dukes.
"The DPUC is charged, on behalf of the public, with determining that the companies' proposed workforce reduction will not jeopardize the provision of safe and reliable service," Commissioner Amalia Vazquez Bzdyra said in a statement.