WPCNR THE POWER NEWS.From the Office of Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. September 18, 2006: Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Senator Jeff Klein are calling on Con Edison officials to revamp its aging infrastructure and outmoded crisis management procedures in the wake of its fourth major power outage this year. As many as 45,000 people in Westchester County have been without electricity for five days when the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto downed trees and power lines throughout the county. Especially hard hit were the southern parts of the county, including Eastchester, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Pelham, Scarsdale and Yonkers.
Adding to the frustration is the knowledge that all of the 100,000 affected customers of the Long Island Power Authority have already had their power restored. Further down the coast, about 90 percent of the nearly 200,000 customers of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company who lost power in the storm had service restored within 48 hours, with the final 1,000 restored on Monday.
They called for a sweeping investigation by the state to determine whether recovery and repair can be hastened and whether future damage from such storms can be lessened with better routine maintenance of power lines and tree branches.
“This is the third time this year that my constituents have suffered through multiple days without the electric service they paid for and they need,” said Paulin. “They are up in arms and rightly so. We are asking whether Con Ed really plans for storms, whether they’re making the right decisions about increased staffing when a storm is on the way.” Paulin indicated that there are also questions about the failure of Con Ed to install an outage alert system as well as about how the Public Service Commission oversees Con Ed’s distribution system. “I’ve written to them, I’ve attended public hearings. At this point I’m deeply frustrated at the lack of response.”
“Sunday’s storm produced driving rain and wind gusts of up to 50 MPH,” said Klein. “But the extent of damage was still surprising given that the system was no longer even a tropical storm by the time it reached our area.” While clearing hundreds of downed trees and power lines is dangerous and time-consuming work, Klein faults a continuing lack of diligence and overall poor communication from electricity provider Con Edison. He said, “Many customers have complained to his office that they are not receiving accurate and useful information about when they can expect their power restored.”
Eastchester Town Supervisor Tony Colavita pointed out that utilities with monopolies have special responsibilities. He said, “If you want to be the only game in town, you can’t drop the ball.” Eastchester resident John Finegan said, “To get a bi-partisan effort of all the political powers in this whole county TOGETHER to have a press conference to try to do something about how Con Edison treats us is wonderful and it may work. It may work.”
Klein is proposing new legislation that will better protect utility customers in the event of an extended power outage. State regulations already require require service providers to make every effort during a major service outage to inform the general public of the details of the outage, including the areas affected and a schedule for expected service renewal. However, there is no penalty for non-compliance. Klein said, “My legislation will allow the state to sanction providers who fail to make diligent efforts towards restoration of service or reasonable efforts to communicate with their customers during and emergency. We’ll be able to require the provider to provide rebates of up to $250 per customer to compensate for food spoilage and other outage-related expenses.”
Paulin said that the State Assembly is committed to forcing Con Ed to come up with the best possible practices for preparing for storms and operating their distribution system. She noted that utility customers rely on the state’s Public Service Commission to regulate Con Ed. “Everyone gets upset with the company, but we should not forget to focus on the people who are supposed to be watching them,” she said. Paulin said that the Assembly’s Energy Committee and the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions are conducting an aggressive investigation.
After the January 2006 windstorm that left parts of Westchester County without power for up to five days, Con Edison promised to provide more accurate estimated restoration times, more frequent briefings for public officials and closer coordination with municipal officials, highway departments and emergency response units. The New York State Department of Public Service also recommended much more frequent communication with both government officials and members of the public.
