13,000 Westchester residents still without power are waiting for 11:00 pm Friday, when Con Ed has said final outages will be restored. Their wait will have lasted over a week, since the first Nor’easter hit Mar. 2. Con Ed Map of outages
Westchester County Executive George Latimer will deliver a “Statement of Solidarity” in White Plains Friday and call for the Presidents of Con Edison and NYSEG to step down.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is questioning whether the utility company should keep its license. Residents have been critical of Cuomo’s failure to survey the damage as of yet, after he made three trips to Puerto Rico after the Hurricane that cut power to the Island.
Latimer’s statement:
“In light of the inadequate and troubled response by ConEdison and NYSEG to restore tens of thousands of Westchester Customers after Winter Storm Reilly,” he said, “I invite you to join me to call for the Presidents of both companies to step down. Both ConEdison and NYSEG have fumbled the recovering effort and we as County residents can no longer stand by and accept this. Along with both Presidents stepping down, I would also like a clean sweep of senior management, and I want a new philosophy adopted.
So…maybe we should bury the power lines?
Yes it is time to bury all the power lines. We can’t be held at the mercy of falling trees. I would be willing to spend more in taxes to do it..even though I did not lose power I know people who did and it was horrible..
The reason the utility lines aren’t buried because people don’t want to bear the costs and the delays involved in digging up the roads to bury the lines. It’s easier said than done when you have to coordinate the electric, phone, cable, and internet companies to install their lines and run them to each home and business along the way. I remember when the lines were buried on a short stretch of Mill Road in Eastchester and it took over a year I believe. It was a mess and costly to the businesses in the area during that time, so people would rather roll the dice than go through that.
It wouldn’t be taxes to pay for that, it would be passed along in rate increases and nobody wants that either since we all pay enough. I pay about $100 a month for gas and electric and I live in a one-bedroom apartment with mostly my TV, computer, and a 14 watt LED light on most of the time. I see these huge old houses lit up at night and it must cost them close to what I pay in rent each month just for electric and to heat up the house whether it’s gas or oil, so those people surely don’t want to pay more than they already do.
My advice, cut down the trees on your property so you’re not responsible for causing a power outage in your neighborhood.