The State Public Service Commission has fined Consolidated Edison $18 million, saying the company failed to meet certain reliability standards during a blackout in Queens that could have prevented the blackout.
Customers in Long Island City and Westchester County lost power for as long as nine days last summer.
Customers will not be seeing any rebates because of the decision. Instead, the PSC said the amount would be deducted from the amount customers would be asked to pay if Con Ed were to get the rate increase it has been seeking.
Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky D-Greenburgh, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions, criticized the power company”™s recent performance.
“Today’s fine is a pittance compared to the damage Con Ed has caused by its unreliable service. At a time when the company is reporting record profits, we are not satisfied with receiving only a small fraction of the scrutiny that we have requested,” Brodsky said.
The utility issued a statement acknowledging that it did not meet customer standards during the outages in 2006, but it adds that it has made substantial infrastructure investments over the last several years
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