Senate to consider bills seeking more oversight over LIPA, PSEG's storm prep

The State Senate will take up four new laws aimed at improving and more clearly defining LIPA and PSEG's preparation for and response to storms, officials said Monday.

One of the bills would require service providers like PSEG Long Island to file an annual compensation statement with the state. Currently, no PSEG executive salaries are publicly disclosed.

The bills have already moved through committees and could come up for a Senate vote as soon as late Tuesday, said Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport), who is sponsoring one measure that would require LIPA to submit an emergency response plan to the PSC annually for review and approval. PSEG, which manages the Long Island grid under contract, currently prepares and updates an annual storm response plan for LIPA, but was sharply criticized for failing to properly respond to Tropical Storm Isaias, when storm computer and phone systems failed, leaving more than 535,000 customers without power, some for more than a week. LIPA has since discovered the systems had been plagued by problems weeks or months before the storm, that PSEG had no working "business continuity" plan, and is now considering terminating its contract with PSEG.

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