Mayor Thomas Menino is fighting for all of us when he demands that NSTAR pay up for losses suffered when the lights went out in Back Bay.
If the same were to happen here as it did in Back Bay over the weekend, we would expect the same for East Boston electricity users.
When a major transformer blows out and an entire neighborhood of Boston is darkened there is an inherent responsibility for the owners of the transformer to have some reasonable liability to do the right thing for businesses who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in aggregate and for residents, who also lost food, comfort, security and a long list of other things.
The mayor was right to take NSTAR to task.
NSTAR has responded by setting up a booth in Back Bay and having those who suffered losses file claims.
It is anyone’s guess what will be honored and what will fail to make the grade.
This we know, with the mayor coming out strongly for some justice for those businesses and residents who suffered losses because of the transformer failure, justice must ultimately be done.
We hope such a transformer explosion and fire never causes the lights to go out in this entire community and for four days.
But if it does, at least the precedent has been set with the aid of the mayor.
No longer will the electricity supplier be absolutely free of responsibility to consumers when the lights go out.
It is a new day and a better one at that.
Thank you, Mayor Menino.