PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TESTIMONY ON CON EDISON
WRITTEN SUBMISSION BY MAYOR RICHARD THOMAS, MOUNT VERNON NY
Matter: 18–00618, In the Matter of Utility Preparation and Response to Power Outages During the March 2018 Winter Storms
Thank you to the Public Service Commission for the opportunity to speak and submit testimony today. I am Mayor Richard Thomas of the City of Mount Vernon, NY. Mount Vernon is the most diverse community in Westchester County and also the densest. We have a vibrant downtown center, a strong industrial core with a port; and a mix of residential housing.
My constituents are extremely familiar with Con Edison. The utility has been spending hundreds of millions in our city putting in new gas transmission lines and performing extensive work throughout our main thoroughfares. For the most part, Mount Vernon has worked well with Con Ed. However, the utility’s recent response to Winter Storms Reilly and Quinn was unacceptable and has left many in my community struggling to return to normalcy. Like so many other municipalities, my city was misled. The continual delivery by Con Ed of inaccurate progress reports is worse than giving us the bad news. It’s a deceptive business practice that must come to an end.
A full accounting of what went wrong during these storms must be undertaken and Con Ed must reform its way of doing business. It’s clear that the time has come for this utility to focus on building a resilient grid that is ready for the future and threats of our changing climate. Storms are becoming more frequent; snow season lasts longer; heavy winds and rain threaten overhead wires and bring down trees onto houses and buildings on a more frequent basis.
While we understand there is a cost associated with undergrounding; the cost to continue the current system, a 19th-century model, is even more expensive. The fact is that Con Edison is willing to spend hundreds of millions to tear up roads in my community. So why not spend the money to underground electric infrastructure and provide a long-term safe, affordable, and reliable solution? The more you delay, the more it costs. The more it hurts ratepayers, especially the City of Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon deserves the same respect the communities such as the Hamptons which have proactively engaged utility companies to convert existing overhead wires. This is not just an aesthetic issue; it’s a life safety issue. This is why we support Supervisor Paul Feiner’s proposal to have New York create tax incentives to create household generation and backup power. We hope the PSC does the same.
The PSC must reverse the order allowing Con Ed to clearcut trees in the right of way. It is obvious that the mass removal of branches didn’t stop trees from falling down and taking down the wires. I am formally requesting that the PSC conduct an empirical study to determine the effectiveness of this policy, especially since the lights were out for approximately 10 days following a snowstorm. I ask that you immediately halt this practice until this study is completed and publicly discussed and reviewed. Requirements and lessons learned from Superstorm Sandy were not acknowledged or fulfilled. These storms exposed a major failure from Con Ed. People that relied on Con Ed’s word that they would have access to backup power for their oxygen tanks were left to fend for themselves.
We should have learned from the 2003 blackout that a tree falling in Ohio shouldn’t break the system. The winter blackout revealed that we are still susceptible to trees falling on wires, exposing a weak electric infrastructure. Con Ed needs to strengthen the reliability and prove that they deserve to keep their monopoly. They should be held to a higher standard, especially since they hold a monopoly in this market. The PSC should ensure this higher standard is met so they fulfill their obligation to the ratepayers.
In summary, Con Edison’s actions during this winter’s storms failed with respect to capital deployment, communication across the board, and commitment to keeping past promises.
