NYSEG and NiMo may institute rolling blackouts today

by Mark H. Anbinder, WVBR News




Ithaca, 15 August 03 (2:15 pm) -- New York State Electric & Gas and Niagara Mohawk are cooperating with state power authorities and are planning rolling blackouts across the state for this afternoon and tonight, to help the utility companies get their regional electrical grids back to full power after yesterday's massive power outage.

NYSEG and NiMo may be shutting down different areas for two-hour periods on a pre-determined basis, including Ithaca and Tompkins County, but have not published a schedule of the planned outages. Officials at Rochester Gas & Electric have already begun blackouts in western New York, with outages lasting for about half an hour in each of a few areas.

In the meantime, state and local government agencies are asking everyone to immediately reduce their power consumption to the bare minimum, so as to limit the need for rolling blackouts. If today's schedule does not allow full restoration of service, the utilities may have to continue rolling blackouts into the weekend.

Please turn off your air conditioner, or if you do need it, please set the temperature several degrees higher to reduce power consumption. Close shades or blinds to reduce sun heating up your home or workplace. Turn off non-critical lights, televisions or radios that no one's paying attention to, unused computers or copiers, and coffee makers.

Cornell University has told its staff that it does not expect to be directly affected by the rolling blackouts, but the University has asked staff to help conserve electricity on campus by following the above steps.

http://today.14850.com/0815rollingblackouts.html

:think: in California?

dp

Doesn't New York have a Republican governor?

Didn't the Bush admin refuse to do anything about CA until the crises started spilling over to Repub-governed states (Nevada, etc.)

They shut me down Friday afternoon for a few hours (I did not note the duration).

These are old stories so I didn't want to open up a separate post.


PSC Blasts Con Ed Outage

By BILL FARRELL Daily News 6-29-01

The Public Service Commission warned Con Edison against neglecting its distribution system yesterday, one day after 10,000 Brooklyn homes lost power on a sweltering night.

"I am disappointed that Con Edison's system failed last evening, resulting in the loss of power to approximately 10,000 customers," said Robert Simpson, executive deputy to the chairman of the PSC, in a statement.

"It is important to note that this outage was not due to inadequate supplies of electricity, but equipment failures," he said.

Con Edison officials acknowledged that equipment failure rather than demand caused by 90-degree temperatures Wednesday caused the outages.

The failures began at 6:20 p.m., when about 3,500 customers in Bushwick lost service. Outages then rolled along the eastern end of Brooklyn through East New York to Canarsie and Spring Creek in about 20 minutes.

http://archive.pulp.tc/html/psc_blasts_con_ed_outage_.html

CON ED SPILLS
Power Pollutes In Queens

According to Toxics Targeting, an independent environmental study group, dozens of hazardous spills continue to occur at Con Edison’s Queens plants.

http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature99/21/


GOVERNOR PATAKI SIGNS LEGISLATION TO PROTECT CON ED CUSTOMERS 8/2000

Governor George E. Pataki today announced he has signed into law legislation that will provide Consolidated Edison Company customers with $162 million in immediate rate relief by prohibiting the utility from passing on to ratepayers the cost of replacement power in the wake of the Indian Point 2 shutdown.

In addition, the legislation will ensure that ratepayers are protected from an additional $60 million associated with the future cost of replacement power due to the shutdown by barring Con Ed from passing on those costs to ratepayers.

"Con Ed must be held accountable for its failures, which clearly led to this shutdown and could have jeopardized the health and safety of the people who live near the plant," Governor Pataki said. "New Yorkers should not be forced to pay for Con Ed's mistakes, nor should they have to wait more than a year to get the relief they are due.

"While I would normally take a dim view of this type of legislation, this is an extraordinary case that requires strong and immediate action to ensure ratepayers get the relief they deserve as soon as possible," the Governor said. "I want to thank Senator Guy Velella for his strong leadership on this issue.

"While we have cut taxes on energy by more than $1 billion since 1995 to help New Yorkers save money, this legislation will ensure that ratepayers get significant refunds in their bills next month, while prohibiting Con Ed from passing on any additional costs from the shutdown to its customers."

http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year00/aug8_3_00.htm

Litigations???

In a noteworthy decision issued June 5, 2002, the Second Circuit permanently enjoined the enforcement of a New York state statute against Consolidated Edison on the grounds that the statute amounted to an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder, in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution. See Consolidated Edison Co. v. Pataki, Nos. 00-9538(L), 00-9426(CON), 00-9442(CON), 2002 WL 1207514 (2d Cir. June 5, 2002) . (The decision is also available at https://www.tourolaw.edu/2ndCircuit/June02/00-9358.html ). The court held that the Bill of Attainder Clause operates to protect corporations as well as natural persons. The legislation in question was deemed a Bill of Attainder because it expressly named Con Ed, and operated retrospectively to first prohibit Con Ed's past conduct, and then to impose punishment based on that conduct.

The statute that formed the basis for the dispute was enacted as a response to a power outage caused by a defective generator at Con Ed's Indian Point 2 Nuclear Generating Facility ("IP2") in Westchester County, New York. Con Ed was forced to halt power production at IP2 while it replaced the damaged generator. To meet electricity demand during this period, Con Ed purchased electricity from outside sources. Pursuant to an earlier settlement agreement between Con Ed and the New York State Public Service Commission ("PSC"), which permitted Con Ed to institute certain temporary rate increases, Con Ed raised its rates to cover the cost of purchasing replacement electricity during the power outage. See Con Ed, 2002 WL 1207514, at *1-2.

http://www.sidley.com/cyberlaw/features/attainder.asp

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Well I guess Con Ed is pleased the outage seems to be attributed to
other plants rather than them!!