New York Imposes $10.75 Million Fine on Con Ed, Orange & Rockland for Inadequate Storm Response

The New York Public Service Commission on Aug. 13 adopted a settlement with Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. and Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. resolving an investigation into the utilities’ response to power outages during two consecutive winter storms in 2018. 

The joint agreement provides ratepayer value of $10.75 million paid for by the companies’ shareholders. The agreement, comprising the settlement amount and mitigation measures, marks the largest of its kind for failure to implement an emergency response plan. The turbulent weather in March 2018 left 293,000 customers devoid of power. 

The companies admitted to certain violations of response plans and commission protocols. In addition to the $6.45 million in settlement funds, the companies agreed to $4.3 million in mitigation measures in coordination with the Department of Public Service. The utilities also adopted 144 storm plan recommendations by the department on May 20, 2019.

The 2018 Winter Storms Riley & Quinn, which occurred on March 2 and 7 respectively, of that year, caused several outages. Riley sparked 143,000 outages for Con Edison customers and 52,500 outages for Orange and Rockland payers. Similarly, Quinn brought about 66,000 Con Edison outages and 31,500 outages for Orange and Rockland.