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Comptroller rips LIPA for PSEG Isaias response

Aug
27
2020

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has expressed “serious issues” about LIPA’s ability to provide oversight of PSEG Long Island in the wake of the utility’s disastrous response to Tropical Storm Isaias.

In a letter sent to LIPA chief executive Tom Falcone Tuesday and obtained by Newsday, DiNapoli cited ratepayers' unsuccessful attempts to call in outages to PSEG, including emergencies with downed power lines, and said LIPA customers “may question whether the storm response failures during and after Isaias were anomalous or a warning of what may lie ahead as severe and less predictable storms become more common."

DiNapoli was making a reference to PSEG Long Island president Dan Eichhorn’s statement earlier this month that the company’s poor performance in responding to...| read more ››

PSEG says it's ready for weekend storms; officials have their doubts

Aug
27
2020

PSEG Long Island, already under fire for its widely criticized response to Tropical Storm Isaias, on Thursday said it was "making preparations" for weekend storms, but officials voiced skepticism about those efforts.

PSEG on Thursday afternoon said it had called in hundreds of outside line workers to help with any restoration should remnants of Tropical Storm Laura impact the Long Island region overnight Sunday.

Notably, PSEG said it was resetting its outage-management computer system, which had been a prime source of many of its logistical troubles during Isaias, to a "previous, more stable version," while making "configuration and capacity changes" to its phone system, which was quickly overwhelmed during the past storm.

“We are closely monitoring … and will...| read more ››

Senators grill utilities over Isaias response

Aug
27
2020

Members of the State Senate joined the Public Service Commission, Long Island Power Authority and PSEG Long Island officials in a 13-hour virtual hearing on Aug. 20 to discuss what many said was the failed response to the damage caused by Tropical Storm Isaias on Aug. 4.

State Sen. Jim Gaughran, a Democrat from Northport who represents Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Glen Cove and Oyster Bay, among other communities, said the PSC has oversight over utilities such as Consolidated Edison, which provides electricity to New York City and Westchester County, but not over PSEG.

Gaughran explained that the LIPA Reform Act of 2013 gave oversight of PSEG to LIPA instead of the PSC, which oversees most other parts of the...| read more ››

Long Islanders getting bills for what supposedly were free COVID-19 tests

Aug
23
2020

Ann Darcy went to her Huntington Station church to get what was advertised as a free COVID-19 test. But she recently received a whopping $760 bill.

“I didn’t know what this was for,” she said. “I thought it was a mistake.”

Darcy said that, after she argued with representatives of the nonprofit that performed the test, Hudson River Healthcare, the bill was voided. But, she said, “What about all the people who don’t know this is not a legitimate expense and may pay it?”

Darcy is one of seven people who complained to the office of Sen. James Gaughran (D-Northport) about charges for the May tests at St. Hugh of Lincoln Catholic Church in Huntington Station, Gaughran said.

Suffolk County...| read more ››

Long Island Lawmakers Propose Utility Reforms After Isaias Chaos

Aug
20
2020

As the cleanup continues more than two weeks after Tropical Storm Isaias caused widespread power outages on Long Island, lawmakers are touting an array of legislative proposals aimed at ensuring utility companies handle the next weather-related crisis more smoothly.

PSEG Long Island’s response to the Aug. 4. storm, which left more than 420,000 homes and businesses on the island without power — some for more than a week — was widely panned for delayed response times and communications failures. Now, as the Atlantic Hurricane Season enters its peak, lawmakers at the local and New York State level are mapping out how to avoid a repeat of the chaotic response.

“Moving forward, it’s clear we need to put in strict...| read more ››

Lawmakers Question PSEG LI Executives, Regulators On Storm Response

Aug
20
2020

New York lawmakers grilled power company representatives and regulators at a hearing on Thursday. They criticized PSEG Long Island over extended outages and communication breakdowns following Tropical Storm Isaias.

Sag Harbor Assemblyman Fred Thiele said he is not confident the Public Service Commission has any teeth to hold PSEG Long Island accountable for failures to restore power and communications after the storm.

“PSEG Long Island is the most unregulated utility in the country. And I think this is not a question of replacing CEO’s or changing companies," Thiele said. "We need to change the structure here.”

State Senator Jim Gaughran of Huntington said the commission can’t do much to hold the PSEG Long Island accountable because of the utility’s contract...| read more ››

New bill would increase oversight of PSEG after research lab left without power by Tropical Storm Isaias

Aug
20
2020

NEW YORK - When Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory lost it’s connection to the Long Island electric grid, research couldn’t be done.

“All of the COVID research was halted, cancer research was halted, neuroscience research was halted,” said Stephen Monez, VP/Chief Facilities Officer. “There’s an enormous amount of research that goes on in that facility that was halted for seven days.”

Lab officials say it shouldn’t have been seven days especially since they’re supposed to be on PSEG’s critical facility list.

Nassau County lawmakers grilled the president of PSEG Long Island about the utility's response to the power outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias.

In a statement, the company said they had numerous interactions and escalated the job accordingly, but Cold...| read more ››

‘Free’ Covid-19 Tests Yielding Surprise Bills

Aug
19
2020

Update: When is free not free? When a medical organization sends a surprise bill weeks after a Covid-19 test that was promoted as free.

State Sen. Jim Gaughran won concessions from the Hudson River Healthcare organization after he received numerous complaints* that the company had been billing people who were unexpectedly charged weeks after they received Covid-19 tests in Huntington Station that were promoted as free.

The Democrat’s letter, addressed to Anne Kauffman Nolon, CEO of Hudson River Healthcare, read in part,
“I am writing in response to numerous calls from constituents who received staggeringly high bills from Hudson River Healthcare for COVID-19 tests that were advertised as free to the public. I urge you to remedy this situation,...| read more ››

Customers Of Long Island-Based New York American Water Face Rate Hike

Aug
19
2020

New York American Water customers on Long Island are facing a looming rate hike, though some local politicians are looking to stall the price jump.

The Merrick-based utility company announced earlier this year that as of Tuesday, Sept. 1, its 120,000 customers will see an increase in their water bills.

The original rate hike was scheduled to take effect in April, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

American Water has defended the move by blaming it on taxes levied on its customers.

“The fastest path toward significant rate relief is reducing the unfair tax burden levied on our customers,” the company said in a statement. “Taxes make up between 31 percent and 55 percent of our customer's...| read more ››

Pols call for delay in postponed NY American Water rate hike set to take effect Sept. 1

Aug
18
2020

Michael Serao of Hewlett Harbor said his August water bill of $1,377.90 from New York American Water is the biggest he’s ever received, and if the company has its way, that bill could jump to more than $2,000 next month.

Serao is about to join more than 120,000 customers of the Merrick-based water company who are facing a rate hike of up to $10 a month as of Sept. 1 after the company received permission to forestall an increase that was supposed to go into effect in April.

For Serao, who said he worked with the company to institute costly conservation measures and cut his usage almost in half, the prospect of a higher bill is daunting. He said...| read more ››

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