ConEd, Orange & Rockland Fined Millions For Isaias Power Outages

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Four public regulated utilities, including ConEdison, Orange & Rockland, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp and Frontier Communications, will pay a combined $82 million for failures related to Tropical Storm Isaias, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday.

On August 4, 2020, Isaias struck New York, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that particularly impacted the Mid-Hudson, New York City and Long Island. The storm caused extensive damage to the electric grid leading to long power outages for a substantial number of households.

Outages affected more than 900,000 customers.

On August 5, Cuomo directed the Department of Public Service to immediately launch an investigation into the utility companies involved. Now, those utilities have agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement.

"The size of these settlements should make it abundantly clear that New York utilities are obligated to prepare for severe weather and to develop robust emergency response programs," Governor Cuomo said. "If they fail to adequately do the job that's required of them, we will hold them accountable and we will force them to improve the way they do business — and their shareholders will pay the price."

For failing to adequately prepare for and respond to Isaias, as well as failures related to the 2019 Brooklyn/Manhattan outages and a steam outage in 2018, ConEd and O&R will pay $82.05 million. Frontier and Central Hudson will pay $2.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

The money from the settlements will be used to offset costs that would have been otherwise paid by utility customers. Many requirements agreed to in the settlement were developed with input from local elected officials and community groups, including United Westchester.

Among the requirements in the settlement is that Con Edison and the other utilities develop more robust storm response programs and enhance communication and coordination with local governments.

"Maintaining reliability and service is a fundamental utility responsibility, and the Commission holds utilities accountable if they fail to meet their responsibility,” NY Public Service Commission Chair John Howard said. “The money coming from shareholders will go directly to invest in making the utilities more reliable and to be better positioned to meet customer needs in the future."

SEE ALSO:

• Cleanup From Isaias Will Take Days: Rockland County Executive
• Cuomo Directs State To Investigate Utilities' Isaias Response
• Mamaroneck Opens Cooling And Charging Centers
• Con Ed Hands Out Ice, Water In 2 Westchester Locations Wednesday
• 10,000 Without Power in Somers, Yorktown
• Cortlandt, Buchanan, Peekskill Power Outages At 5,747 After Storm
• Storm Aftermath Closes Putnam County
• New Rochelle Train Station Closed Due To Storm
• Nyack Working On Roads Closed By Tropical Storm Isaias
• Clarkstown Cleans Up After Tropical Storm Isaias
• Nannahagan Park Closed Due To Storm Damage
• Kingsland Point Park Closed In Aftermath Of Tropical Storm
• Metro-North Limits Harlem, New Haven Lines In Storm Aftermath
• Bedford Warns Residents Some Outages May Be Prolonged
• Hundreds Of Thousands Of Outages Still To Repair In Hudson Valley
• Storm Summary of Winds, Rain In The Hudson Valley