United Westchester wants Con Edison and NYSEG to improve communication with municipalities, and they want Altice and Verizon to upgrade their infrastructure. These are just two of the 42 recommendations that United Westchester makes for these electric utility and telecommunications companies in
the group’s Storm Response Report, in light of Tropical Storm Isaias.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and United Westchester, have released a Storm Response
Report with detailed analyses and recommendations to address the failures of the electric utility and telecommunications companies in Westchester.
“This effort came together during and after the 2018 weather crisis, known as storms Riley and Quinn, which caused such devastation and power outages
in Westchester County,” Latimer said. “The aftermath of those storms created a group of people all across Westchester County getting together to discuss
what the problems were that were experienced and what possible solutions can be identified to make sure we have a better relationships with the power and telecommunications organizations in order to provide the proper service during these crises for the residents of our towns, cities, villages and County at large.”
Among the other recommendations for Con Edison and NYSEG:
• The use of Smart Meters to track customers who are without power, creating a live interactive outage map for public viewing.
• A regularly updated and shared list of critical facilities.
• An updated map of Con Edison’s grid provided to each municipality.
• Better internal communications in Con Edison between management, field and workers.
• The creation of the utility reserve corps.
• Better supply and distribution of dry ice.
• A ten-year storm hardening plan and implementation.
“This report details recommendations which need to be followed in order to effectively address the utility and telecom failings which occurred after Isaias and prior storms that have severely impacted our county in recent years,” Paulin said. “Our service providers know what went wrong. They now need to address the issues and recommendations set forth in the report so that power restoration efforts in Westchester County can be significantly improved.”
Among the recommendations for Altice and Verizon:
• Improved coordination with electric utility companies during post-storm restoration efforts.
• Fixing customer service tools and availability.
• Providing municipal officials with operational contacts.
• Giving customers credits when they lose access to telecommunications services.
• For Altice, upgrading infrastructure and powering network nodes during power outages.
On Aug. 4, 2020 Tropical Storm Isaias hit New York with heavy rain, and winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour. The storm left thousands of Westchester
residents without power for multiple days and disrupted telephone, cable and internet services—services that are particularly essential due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
United Westchester is a group of local, county, and state officials that have worked together since 2018 to implement significant and necessary improvements
to storm response efforts in Westchester County. “As a group we have produced a document that is not simply another call for change but a carefully thought out blueprint for real measurable improvement in the way utilities prepare for and respond to storm events,” said White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, chair of the United Westchester Storm Hardening Subcommittee.
“I would like to express my appreciation to Assemblywoman Paulin, County Executive Latimer and all of my colleagues for their efforts in moving this forward.”
The United Westchester report released today analyses, makes recommendations and details what has been done to date regarding the widespread outages, communication failures, and emergency response plans of our region’s electric utility and telecommunications providers in connection with Isaias. The report covers topics including: electric utility and telecommunications provider storm preparedness; the pre-storm steps taken to protect the electric distribution grid and critical telecommunications infrastructure; the reasons for the lengthy post-storm repair, restoration of service and reconnection of customers; the extent of coordination between electric utility and telecommunications providers and municipalities in restoring service; and the reasons for the loss of customer
service communication during and after the storm.
“Tropical Storm Isaias was unfortunately only the latest in a string of utility underperformance following significant storms dating back at least to Superstorm Sandy, and yet in this report we document both new issues (as with telecommunications utilities) and the potential for improvement (as with NYSEG),” said former state Assemblyman David Buchwald, a former co-chair of United Westchester.
“There is no doubt in my mind that United Westchester can make a difference when a utility company is willing to listen to feedback and make fundamental
changes to its approach.” The full report can be read here: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Amy-Paulin/story/94811.
(Submitted)
