Senate Hearing on Storm Response & Preparedness Postponed Until March 27 2018

Albany, NY - With yet another major storm looming, the last thing Senators Terrence Murphy and Sue Serino want is to keep Con Edison and NYSEG from doing their jobs. As a result, the Hudson Valley lawmakers are postponing their storm response and preparedness hearing scheduled for Thursday, March 22, 2018, at John F. Kennedy High School in Somers. The hearing has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 27 at 9:00 a.m. in Hearing Room A at the Capital Building in Albany, New York.

 
Senator Murphy said, "Another storm is headed toward the Hudson Valley. As a result, we are postponing our Senate hearing on the power outages.  Right now, it is more important for utility company to concentrate on making preparations for any emergencies that may happen in the next 48 hours. But make no mistake, they are not off the hook. The power companies will absolutely be held to account for their complete dysfunction after the last storms at next week's hearing."

"While this hearing is critically important, with yet another storm expected to hit the region in the coming days, our first priority needs to be ensuring that the needs of residents are met and we absolutely do not want to distract from that," said Senator Serino. "Our community members deserve answers and by postponing this hearing to account for a potential weather system, we expect to have full participation from all involved this coming Tuesday."
 
Two winter storms in early March knocked out power to nearly 160,000 homes and businesses in the Hudson Valley. Some customers of NYSEG, Con Edison, and Central Hudson were without power for as long as 10 days. Residents and business owners have been calling the offices of elected officials, seeking answers as to why it took the utility companies so long to respond to and repair the widespread outages. In response to their concerns Senator Murphy and Senator Serino organized the hearing to explore whether the utility companies were prepared to manage the massive outages caused by the storm, and examine steps to ensure this sort of situation does not occur again.