Dive Brief:
-
Citing a failure to meet expectations after two Nor'easters this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the New York State Department of Public Service sent letters to the state's electric utility companies apprising them of an investigation into preparedness and response. Nearly 600,000 houses and businesses were without power.
-
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) directed the state's Board of Public Utilities to investigate responses of state utilities to the two winter storms that hit in March. Around 350,000 customers were without power. In a separate announcement, Murphy slammed Jersey Central Power & Light for its slow response to this week's storm, saying the utility's timeline was "embarrassing and unacceptable."
- The outages also prompted a response from the New Jersey state legislature where Senator Joe Pennacchio (R) re-introduced legislation from 2012 that would impose stiffer fines on utilities for outages.
Dive Insight:
Following major storms, there are always assessments around utility performance. Companies are required to file emergency response scorecards within 30 days of a weather event. The investigations should coincide with these reports. In New Jersey, efforts are underway to penalize companies who do not perform to state leaders' standards.
Senator Pennacchio's bill, S 889, would increase fines against a utility whose performance during a service disruption is found to be less than effective by the BPU. The BPU currently has authority to levy a $100 fine. The proposed bill would increase the fine up to $25,000 per day for each violation up to a maximum of $2 million.
"We will work with the BPU to evaluate our performance and make any improvements we can moving forward," JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano, told Utility Dive. "Our top priority was to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible," he said.
Morano said JCP&L was "well on the way" to restoring customers' power from the first Nor'easter when the second storm hit. Work crews continued to work in that storm until it was no longer safe, and they were called back, he said.
The recent severe storms highlight the risks utilities face with climate change. Though the phrase has yet to enter the power sector's daily lexicon, more utilities are targeting efforts to make the grid more resilient and aim for faster restoration times.