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Oct 13, 2006 12:12 am US/Eastern
Con Ed Pats Self On Back Over Response To Blackout
Politicians At A Loss For Words, Say Utility Failed
NEW YORK (AP) ―
A utility that was heavily criticized after a summer power outage left about 100,000 residents in the dark for 10 days praised itself in a report on the blackout released Thursday.
The report by Consolidated Edison said its officials stopped the blackout from spreading to 90,000 additional customers in the affected areas of Queens. It also detailed how the utility was quick to respond by deploying all available personnel on an around-the-clock basis to restore power.
Politicians who represent the borough scoffed at the report and said Con Ed didn't do its job.
The 600-page report cited a series of "unrelated events" that led to the outages, including an underground cable fire followed by a substation breaker malfunction two hours later. It also blamed a severe heat wave, record power usage and the failure of 10 of 22 primary feeders to the borough's Long Island City section.
Con Edison initially said that about 1,700 customers, or about 6,800 people, were without power last July. But city officials now believe more than 100,000 people were affected, and the city's top emergency coordinator said he will no longer rely solely on Con Ed for information on the magnitude of power outages.
The report outlined plans to prevent future blackouts, including upgrading equipment, investing $58 million in the Long Island City network and building a new substation in northwest Queens.
Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert was not able to offer a timeline on when the substation would be built. But he outlined plans to add 250 telephone lines at Con Ed's call centers, which handle service complaints and questions from customers.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, who represents parts of Queens, called the report an "important step for Con Ed in communicating with the public as to what happened." But he criticized the utility for ignoring immigrant and poor neighborhoods hit by the power outage.
"I have urged Con Ed to take steps in establishing stronger outreach with these Queens neighborhoods through sharing information in different languages, utilizing ethnic media and creating an effective information-sharing network with community service organizations," Crowley said in a statement.
Queens Assemblyman Michael Gianaris also criticized the report.
"Con Edison did not do its job maintaining its grid, and they are to blame for that," he said.
He said he's leading an independent Assembly task force to investigate the blackout and is expected to issue recommendations before the end of the year.
At a hearing in August, Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke answered hours of questions from state Assembly members. He said that the utility had sent out 4,000 checks to customers seeking reimbursement for goods that perished in the blackout and that there would be a one-month credit of $3 for residential customers, $6 for small businesses and $250 for large commercial customers.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
