WPCNR'S THE FEINER REPORT. By Paul Feiner. Greemburgh Town Supervisor. September 15, 2006:
I received the following e mail from Sandra Miller of Con Ed indicating that only customers who experienced heat related outages that took place on July 17-18th can receive reimbursement. Storm related damages from July 19th and last week will not be covered. I spoke to David Flanagan, Director of Public Affairs for the NY State Public Service Commission yesterday and they confirmed the policy and apologized for the fact that a letter sent to a resident of Greenburgh did not fully explain the eligibility requirements in the tariff.
The PSC indicated that “Westchester residents who experienced a heat related outage (July 17-18) may submit a claim for up to $350. Claim forms are available on Con Ed’s web site: www.coned.com. Con Ed’s tariff does not provide for reimbursement of spoilage losses due to storm related outages. Therefore, Westchester County residents who lost power due to storm related damage are not eligible for reimbursement of spoilage losses under Con Ed’s tariff.”
When I spoke to David Flanagan he indicated that he thought it would be unlikely that the PSC will order Con Ed to reimburse customers for the storm related damages.
I believe that the PSC and Con Ed should revisit the issue. I also believe that the PSC and Con Ed should consider refunding people who are out of power for more than 24 hours. The failure of Con Ed to get power back on in a timely manner is also related to infrastructure and manpower issues. If additional penalties are imposed when there are prolonged delays in power being restored – Con Ed will have an incentive to complete the restoration job faster.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor
From: Miller, Sandra
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 7:49 AM
To: Paul Feiner
Subject: RE: PROMISES MADE IN THE SUMMER HAVEN"T BEEN KEPT..we were promised refunds, but refunds denied..
An article in today's Journal News clarifies the issue ---Claims from the July 17-18 heat-related outages are being reviewed again and will be paid if they were wrongly denied. Con Edison does not, however, reimburse for food spoiled in power outages related to storms, only in cases due to equipment problems. The overhead storms of July 19 and last week are not covered.
