Assemblymember Solages Issues Statement Regarding PSEG's Poor Tropical Storm Response

Due to Tropical Storm Isaias, more than a third of all Long Island electric customers were without power as of Tuesday night – some 368,000 of LIPA’s 1.1 million customers – have had difficulty contacting PSEG regarding power restoration. Assemblymember Solages released the following statement:

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“While it might be difficult to determine the severity of the weather, PSEG was fully aware of the incoming tropical storm and had a thoroughly lackluster response. Furthermore, a lack of communication only worsened the matter. Ratepayers deserve an efficient method of communicating during these types of emergencies so that they can safeguard their families and property.

PSEG is now estimating that many homes may not have power restored for another week. That is completely unacceptable. Residents cannot be expected to go for days without access to power with vulnerable family members in their home and costly loss of perishable food items. There was enough time to formulate a response plan, and there should be fail-safe measures in place for these types of occurrences.

Long Island has a tumultuous history with power companies and we cannot afford more of the same. This has been a disappointing experience with PSEG. We need answers in regards to what went wrong and how they will improve moving forward. I look forward to the results of the Department of Public Service's investigation.”