MARBLETOWN – Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill is looking for answers as to why as many as a half-million customers were left without power for days on end, after a series of snowstorms paralyzed much of the area in late February. To that end, the assemblyman organized a public hearing with took place at Ulster County Community College this past Friday, April 23. Invited were members of the NY State Department of Public Service (DPS), representatives of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, as well as a contingent of officials from the public utility companies — including Central Hudson Gas & Electric and Orange & Rockland Utilities.

The hearing focused on several key areas, including: the length and severity of the outages; whether the response was timely and adequate; if response plans and staffing were sufficient to the task; the effectiveness of changes which had been made as a result of previous outages; and, perhaps most importantly, how this type of severe outage might be prevented in the future.

"The February storms left too many households without power for too long. Lives were put at risk and people deserve to know what can be done to prevent similar events in the future," said Cahill during the hearing. "Winter storms are a fact of life in our region; our electric grid has to be able to withstand the stress they bring. It is critical that the State, utilities, local governments and emergency responders remain vigilant in preparing, coordinating and executing outage prevention and response plans."

One of the assemblyman's areas of focus rested upon severe-weather guidelines that had been prepared by the New York State Public Service Commission. These regulations are designed to steer the response process during a severe weather event. Cahill, however, feels strongly that the plan is outdated, as the one currently in use was prepared back in 1992.

"A lot has changed in the world in the past 18 years. Our communications methods have become much more sophisticated and we are more dependent on electricity than ever," said Cahill. "However, the regulations we are using for the twenty-first century are still firmly rooted in the twentieth. That is an area we need to look into and make necessary adjustments."

Another area in which the assemblyman sought answers this past Friday, has to do with the availability of public information during the outage. Representatives of DPS said that, during the outage, the state agency had received approximately 120 calls from residents seeking assistance. Cahill appeared somewhat bemused by this information, stating that his office, alone, had received at least that many calls; and that, in his mind, it would appear likely that the agency needs to do more to publicize its emergency phone numbers.

"One thing we can take away from this hearing is that contacting consumers during the outage can go a long way to alleviating frustration, and keeping people safe," Cahill said. "I am interested in how we can put in place a communications system that will better serve customers."

It should be noted, however, that many homes in the outage area also saw disruptions in telephone service, especially those phones — such as the cordless variety — which typically require electricity in order to function. Whether this may have had an impact on the number of calls received was not addressed by the panel.

The assemblyman said that his office would continue to look into these matters, and that the increased frequency and severity of winter storms in recent years is a reminder that response plans need to be kept up to date. Cahill said that there are good lessons to be learned and that more needs to be done when it comes to ensuring that these lessons are internalized by the agencies and companies involved.

"We are working together to address the factors contributing to the severity of these outages," said Cahill. "The events of this past February, and the December 2008 ice storm, brought to light several issues surrounding communication, utility staffing and coordination of outside crews brought in to assist in the response. It was very instructive to hear how the lessons learned will be applied to lessen the impact of future storms."