File Photo
Tropical Storm Isaias tore through Queens last summer.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The State Public Service Commission has accepted the terms of settlements valued at $86.2 million regarding alleged violations committed by four New York utilities—Consolidated Edison of New York, Orange & Rockland Utilities, Inc., Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, and Frontier Communications of New York, Inc.—for failing to adequately prepare for and respond to emergencies, including Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.
For failing to adequately prepare for and respond to the TS Isaias, as well as failures related to the 2019 Brooklyn/Manhattan outages, and a steam outage in 2018, Con Edison and O&R will pay $82.05 million. For failing to adequately prepare and respond to TS Isaias, Frontier and Central Hudson will pay $2.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
An investigation found 33 alleged violations of Con Edison’s emergency response plan related to, among other things, faulty storm classifications, inadequate storm staffing, inadequate communications with municipal officials and the media, and failure to comply with metrics related to contacts with life-support equipment customers. The settlement also includes issues related to a TS Isaias-related outage at the company’s Rainey substation in Astoria.
Thursday’s settlements add to a previously announced $72 million settlement with broadband provider Altice and the $1.5 million settlement with New York State Electric & Gas Corp. related to those companies’ failures to prepare and respond to TS Isaias, and $30 million forfeited by PSEG Long Island to resolve then-pending litigation related to PSEG LI’s management failures during TS Isaias. These settlements resolve all open investigations related to TS Isaias, less than one year after TS Isaias made landfall in New York State.
The total for all the settlements is nearly $190 million. According to Cuomo, the money from the settlements will be used to offset costs that would have been otherwise borne by customers. Many requirements found in the settlement related to TS Isaias were developed with input from local elected officials and community groups, such as United Westchester. Among the many requirements set forth in the settlement is that Con Edison and the other utilities develop more robust storm-response programs and enhance communication and coordination with municipal and county governments.
On Aug. 4, 2020, Isaias blasted borough enclaves, including Howard Beach, leaving millions in damage and tens of thousands of Queens residents without power for days.
A week after the weather event, borough elected officials ripped Con Edison’s disastrous management of power restoration in the county.
“Unfortunately, this situation isn’t a new one. Many of my constituents have been victimized by major storms in the past and were prepared before, during and after this recent Isaias storm. I’d like to make sure Con Ed is just as prepared going forward,” State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) said at the time. “There needs to be a long-term plan to this problem, and not just reactionary measures after service has been interrupted.”
