By Melanie Grayce West and Joseph De Avila
As the next winter storm bears down on a region still suffering
from one of the worst nor'easters in years, frustrated residents
throughout New York's Lower Hudson Valley are turning their ire on
the area's power companies.
By midday Tuesday, four days after many lost power, roughly
78,000 New York residents were still in the dark, mostly in
Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties. Gov. Andrew
Cuomo suggested that New Yorkers who don't have power by Wednesday
morning decamp to a safe shelter to ride out the coming storm.
The National Weather Service predicted up to 15 inches of snow
for the Lower Hudson Valley and the interior of southern
Connecticut, with six to 12 inches possible in New York City. It
projects the storm will hit the region Tuesday night and last
through Wednesday night.
Consolidated Edison warned some residents that power might not
be restored until Friday, a delay the governor called "absurd."
"Utilities get paid for service, and part of that payment is to
restore power after a storm," said Mr. Cuomo during a telephone
news conference Tuesday. "I believe we're entitled to better
service."
Megan Leap, a 34-year-old marketing consultant, has been without
power in her Scarsdale, N.Y., home since Friday, when a tree
knocked out electricity on her street. The mother of two, including
an infant, is accustomed to serious storms and power outages from
her time living in Florida.
But in Florida, she said, power crews are out within hours of a
storm. She said she didn't see work crews until Monday.
Consolidated Edison spokesman Robert McGee said the company is
focused on the restoration of services for customers affected by
last week's storm and on the preparations for Wednesday's
storm.
"Our crews will continue doing their arduous, dangerous work
until we have restored all customers," said Mr. McGee.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Consolidated Edison
Chief Executive John McAvoy said last week's storm was the largest
since superstorm Sandy. He said 90% of affected customers still
facing outages will have power restored Tuesday night, though
updates to the automated notification system are ongoing.
New York State Electric and Gas Corp., meanwhile, said in a news
release it has more than 2,000 people working and estimates it will
restore service to more than 90% of its customers by late Tuesday
night.
"Our goal is to get our customers back to their daily routines,"
said Carl Taylor, chief executive of NYSEG.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer at a news conference
Tuesday criticized NYSEG and Consolidated Edison for their response
and said the utilities underestimated the severity of Friday's
storm. He called on both utilities to have all employees on duty to
get residents their power back and to be ready for Wednesday's
snowstorm.
"The urgency is so great," Mr. Latimer said. "We are facing a
very severe deadline when the snow starts to fall."
The slow response of Consolidated Edison and NYSEG is the latest
in a series of weather-related emergencies in recent years that
have called into question utility providers' ability to restore
service quickly.
The companies came under fire in 2011 after tropical storm Irene
and an October nor'easter each left thousands without power. A
state report analyzing Consolidated Edison's response to superstorm
Sandy in 2012 said the utility "must seriously re-evaluate its
storm preparation and response and adopt swift and substantive
improvements before the next storm hits the region."
Benjamin Boykin, chairman of the Westchester County Board of
Legislators, said NYSEG and Consolidated Edison needed to be held
accountable for their performance.
"After superstorm Sandy, the utilities said we are going to do
things so we won't have this happen again. It's happened again,"
Mr. Boykin said at a news conference. "This is unacceptable to the
residents of Westchester County."
Stephen Ferrara, 43, has been without power in his White Plains
home since Friday as well. The nurse practitioner and father of
three hasn't been able to get accurate information about when power
will return to his street. The tree that downed power lines has
been removed, he said, but the lines remain tethered by a rope to
another tree, with no trucks or crew in the area.
"It's just been no answers," he said.
Author Laura June, 40, decided to go with her husband and young
daughter to a hotel last Friday after they lost power in their
Armonk, N.Y., home. The severity of damage in her neighborhood
prompted the family to move to another hotel in White Plains, N.Y.,
this time bringing the family dog and a pet fish. She said she has
gotten multiple estimates on when her power will be returned.
"If I had to guess," she said, "we will be here until Friday or
Saturday."
Write to Melanie Grayce West at melanie.west@wsj.com and Joseph
De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2018 17:32 ET (22:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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