O&R Will Credit Customers Who Lost Power For 3+ Days After Isaias

PEARL RIVER, NY — Orange & Rockland Utilities, one of four utilities facing steep penalties for their responses to the damage caused in the region by Tropical Storm Isaias, has announced that customers who lost power for 72 hours or more will receive a one-time credit.

O&R, Altice-Optimum, Con Edison, and Central Hudson were excoriated by the New York Department of Public Service, which in an unprecedented move sent Notice of Apparent Violation letters to Con Ed, O&R, CenHud and the cable, phone and internet provider in August.

About 1.3 million New York customers experienced power outages during the Aug. 4 storm; most were without power for several days.

O&R customers who lost power for three consecutive days or more due to Tropical Storm Isaias will receive a one-time credit, resulting in a reduction on bills issued between October and November 2020, the company announced Sept. 18.

The credit will be based on a pro-rata reduction in 30-day fixed charges based on customers’ average outage duration.

Residential customers will receive a $2.60 to $5.85 credit against the $19.50 monthly customer charge depending on outage length, while small- and medium-size business customers will receive $2.27 to $8.17 against the $21.00 monthly charge. Larger commercial customers will receive similar credits based on service classification.

The monthly delivery-charge reductions are in addition to company reimbursements announced on August 8 for food and prescription medicine spoilage for those enduring a two-day-or-more power loss because of Tropical Storm Isaias.

The DPS told the companies that they face steep fines and also that they must take immediate corrective actions so that similar failures are not repeated during the remainder of hurricane season. Plus, the department is threatening to pursue franchise revocations for Con Edison and Orange & Rockland.

Specifically, DPS cited Con Edison and Orange & Rockland for inaccurate communications, website problems and inadequate pre-staging. Central Hudson was cited for inadequate communications capacity at its backup data center, leading to their website becoming unavailable to customers.

Con Edison said its response was good, given the impact of the storm. "Our storm response plans enabled us to restore more than 300,000 customer outages from Tropical Storm Isaias more than two times faster than after Winter Storms Riley and Quinn and 1.5 times faster than Hurricane Irene," spokesman Allan Drury said.

ALSO SEE: 4 Hudson Valley Utilities Face Penalties For Isaias Response