WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. From the Office of  New York State Assemblyman Robert Castelli (89th A.D.) and County Legislators Harckham and Kaplowitz August 31, 2011 UPDATED 12:50 P.M. E.D.T.:

Following Hurricane Irene, Con Edison has been able to restore power to 73% of the 14,500 customers in the 89^th Assembly District in forty eight hours, and expects to have a 100% restoration by Thursday. This has made Assemblyman Robert J. Castelli (R, C – Goldens Bridge) wonder why New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) has only been able to restore power to 16% of their 50,900 customers in Bedford, Lewisboro, and Pound Ridge.

(Editor’s Note: As of 10 A.M. Wednesday morning, NYSE&G reports on their website they still have 14,926 customers without power in Westchester County out of 32,445 the company powers.The website does not breakdown the outages by community.)

As of 12:45 P.M., Assemblyman Castelli’s Office has issued the following detail on New York State Electric & Gas outages, compared with Con Edison performance:

 “Thus far, the response by NYSEG has left much to be desired,” Castelli said. “While we all understand that this is an unprecedented situation, in the months ahead, a Task Force should look into why NYSEG was not adequately prepared for this situation, their protocols and procedures, and measure their response and efforts to restore their transmission and distribution lines following the storm.”

Westchester County Legislators Peter B. Harckham (D-Katonah) and Michael B. Kaplowitz (D-Somers), expressed their frustration Tuesday with the lack of information and the less-than-impressive restoration efforts coming from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), who, along with Con Edison, provide power to tens of thousands of homes in Northern Westchester.

Following the 2006 Queens Power Outage, and the 2003 Northeast Blackout, the State Assembly convened a Power Outage Task Force consisting of members of the Government Operations Committee, upon which Castelli serves, and other Assembly committees. “I believe it is time for a 2011 Power Outage Task Force to look into the appropriateness of NYSEG’s response, and I also believe immediate investigation and analysis by both Attorney General Schneiderman and the Public Service Commission are necessary,” Castelli said.

            Some previous Task Force members have included current and former Commissioners from the New York State Department of Public Service (also known as the Public Service Commission, or PSC), the State Department of Energy, as well as the Public Utility Law Project, the Pace Energy Project, and other academic and industry representatives. Legislative representatives have included members of the Assembly Government Operations Committee, who are responsible for homeland security and oversight of state agencies including the Department of Public Service/PSC, and the State Emergency Management Office.

            “This is not only about accountability, this is about improving public communication, and preventing future occurrences like we are currently experiencing,” Castelli said. “This is more than just an annoyance. While the situation could have been much worse, the response by NYSEG thus far has been inadequate. As the company responsible for the transmission and distribution system, these long-term outages must be fixed. They are a grave risk to public safety and the public health and well being at-large.”

Upon the order of the Governor or Assembly Speaker convening a task force, public hearings would be held, and recommendations could be issued for new regulations, legislation, or further analysis and investigation by the legislature, the PSC, and even the Attorney General.

HARCKHAM AND KAPLOWITZ, COUNTY LEGISLATORS PRAISE CON ED, FUME AT NYSEG

“I understand the magnitude of the disaster we are dealing with,” said Harckham, the Legislature’s Majority Leader.  “However, I am disappointed with the lack of communication between NYSEG and the municipalities.  Con Edison has at least provided ‘municipal liaisons’ to work on-site with the Supervisors and their key personnel, which facilitates necessary communication.”

Since current law relating to electric utility emergency plans is only applicable to “storm plans” and does not provide standards for the contents of such plans, Castelli voted for Assembly Bill A4980 this year, a bill drafted by a previous Power Outage Task Force which strengthens requirements for emergency plans currently set forth in regulations of the PSC.

 The requirements for such plans, as delineated in the bill, include:

• training exercises, planning, and other preparatory actions to be undertaken in anticipation of major storms, other adverse weather conditions or other events that may result in service outages;
  
• procedures to be followed for accurately determining the extent of an outage, including the location of affected areas and the overall number of people affected by loss of power or by voltage reductions;
  
• procedures for estimating the time required for restoration of service;
  
• policies for implementing load relief and load control programs; and
  
• procedures for execution of management responsibilities.

The legislation annually requires electric corporations to file emergency plans and a verification of the ability to implement such plan, and a requirement that electric corporations issue a report to the PSC within 60 days of an outage which lasts more than 48 hours.

The bill also provides for public comment on the emergency plans filed by utilities, and requires the PSC to review the adequacy of any reimbursement policies for spoilage, damages to electrical equipment, lost business or other losses attributable to outages, voltage reductions or inadvertent shutoffs. It was not acted upon by the State Senate.

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