2006 Queens blackout

The Queens Blackout of 2006 was an unresolved series of power outages which struck the northwest section of Queens in July 2006. The blackout primarily affected the neighborhoods of Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Woodside. The outages affected 174,000 people, caused business losses of tens of millions of dollars, [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19464671/] "Power restored to New York's Upper West SideExtent of outage unclear; subway service suffers delays'" AP wire story at MSNBC.com June 27, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2007] caused airport and transit delays and cancellations, and caused unsavory living conditions due to a concurrent heat wave.

Effects of the Blackout

The northwest Queens power outages coincided with a heat wave in the New York City area the week of July 17. [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--muggymisery0715jul15,0,2288330.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork Link found broken 9/19/2006] Their effects included knocking out power at LaGuardia Airport and parts of the subway. [ [http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-07-18T215809Z_01_N18214711_RTRIDST_0_TRANSPORT-NEWYORK-UPDATE-3-PICTURE.XML] "UPDATE 3-Power outages hit NY's LaGuardia airport, subway" Reuters, 7/18/2006, viewed 9/19/2006] Subway service was restored Thursday morning. [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--blackouts0720jul20,0,6449226.story Link found broken 9/19/2006] They also caused Rikers Island to switch to backup generators. [ [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-rike0721,0,7191696.story] Bennett, Chuck, "Rikers Island jails still running on generators," Newsday, 7/21/2006]

The worst result of the outages was a prolonged loss of power to 100,000 northwest Queens residents beginning on July 17. [ [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-out0722,0,3130739.story] Lowe, Herbert & Melanie Lefkowitz, "Power outage hit more than 100,000, mayor says," Newsday, 7/22/2006, viewed 9/19/2006] This outage was originally estimated by Con Edison to have affected only 1,600 customers. [ [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyout204823173jul20,0,4001264.story] "Con Ed: Blackout's 10 times worse than originally reported," AP story, Newsday, 7/21/2006, viewed 9/19/2006] Con Edison defines a customer as a single edifice such that an entire residential building (which could conceivably be home to hundreds of individuals) is counted as one customer. Con Edison later revised its estimates tenfold. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/07-21-2006/news/local/story/436870p-368106c.html] ]

Criticism

The extent of the outage and perceived poor response on their behalf prompted criticism to be levied on Con Edison and mayor Michael Bloomberg. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/07-22-2006/news/story/437120p-368326c.html] Saul, Michael, "Where's Mike? blackout dims Bloomberg's image" New York Daily News, 7/22/2006. viewed 9/19/2006] [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/07-22-2006/news/story/437048p-368265c.html] "Have you seen this man?" New York Daily News, 7/22/2006 viewed 9/19/2006] [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/07-21-2006/news/story/436716p-367958c.html] "Con Ed coneheads," New York Daily News, 7/21/2006. viewed 9/19/2006] [ [http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/give_us_power__regionalnews_stefanie_cohen__john_doyle_and_cynthia_r__fagen.htm] Cohen, Stephanie, John Doyle, & Cynthia R. Fagen, "Give us power! Queens rages as Con Ed bungle lasts a fourth day," New York Daily News 7/21/2006, viewed 9/19/2006] [ [http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/con_eds_powerless_pinheads_get_outed_in_a_big_lie_regionalnews_john_doyle__john_mazor_and_bill_sanderson.htm] Doyle, John, John Mazor & Bill Sanderson, "Con Ed's powerless pinheads get outed in a big lie," New York Daily News, 7/22/2006, viewed 9/19/2006]

At a press conference on Wednesday July 19, 2006 Mayor Bloomberg snapped at reporters for asking about the power outage in Astoria. The Queens power problem had been a constant item on NY1's 9PM show "The Call" hosted by John Schiumo for the entire week of Monday July 17, 2006 to Friday July 21. He received calls from frustrated Astoria residents who managed to relocate with friends or relatives to be able to see the show and call in. In addition, there were calls from MTA officials explaining how the power problem affected the subways that week (July 17-21). By Friday, when the full extent of the problem was revealed, Bloomberg changed his stance.

Restoration of Power

Con Edison first believed it could restore power by the end of the day July 23, [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyout214824309jul21,0,5705204.story Link broken 9/19/2006] but their CEO Kevin Burke later refused to announce a timetable for full restoration. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/nyregion/23astoria.html?hp&ex=1153713600&en=a4e1f36f05181e0c&ei=5094&partner=homepage] McFadden, Robert D., & Winnie Hu. Michelle O'Donnell contributed reporting, "Power Failure Lingers as Storm Slows Repairs," New York Times, 7/23/2006, Late Edition - Final, Section 1, Page 23, Column 5,(subscription) viewed abstract 9/19/2006] By July 24 (one week after the incident), about half of the customers affected had their service restored. The other half were still in the dark by July 21, 2006 and New York City government planned to provide food and shelter until they were all restored. There have been reports of offers of reimbursement for spoiled food of up to $300 per customer, however officials from Con Edison’s claims department told residents they could submit a claim of up to $150 without receipts, or $350 with receipts, and merchants might file claims of up to $7,000. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/21/nyregion/21astoria.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2] Kilgannon, Corey; Anthony Ramirez contributed reporting, "Queens Areas Stew on 4th Day Without Power," New York Times, 7/21/2006, Late Edition - Final, Section B, Page 1, Column 5, (subscription) viewed abstract 9/19/2006] Also, in a separate press release, the power company stated that the requirement for grocery receipts would be waived. [ [http://www.coned.com/messages/pr20060724_2.asp] Con Edison, "Con Edison Urges Restored Customers to Conserve Electricity; Company Will Expedite Claims Process," 7/24/2006] .

Causes

The cause of the outages - which was undetermined for five days - appeared to be the company's decision to continue supplying power to the 400,000 people serviced by twenty-two feeder cables after ten of them had failed, overloading the remaining twelve. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/24/nyregion/24astoria.html?hp&ex=1153713600&en=690f7dc78cdce090&ei=5094&partner=homepage] McFadden, Robert D., "POWER FAILURE IN QUEENS: OVERVIEW; More Lights Go On in Queens, One Unhappy Block at a Time," with correction, Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 1,(subscription) viewed abstract 9/19/2006] After these were repaired, a manhole-to-manhole inspection and repair of smaller cables which had also burned took place. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/v-pfriendly/story/437341p-368529c.html] "More power to utility staff," New York Daily News, 7/23/2006, viewed 9/19/2006] Consolidated Edison was due to make an initial status report, regarding the outage, on August 2, 2006. [ [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=61233] "Mayor, Queens Lawmakers Clash After Bloomberg Defends Con Ed Chief," NY1, undated, viewed 9/19/2006] Data submitted by Con Edison in August, 2006 indicated that the failed feeder cables had been in service an average of 16 years, with the oldest failed cable 59 years old. [ [http://www.dps.state.ny.us/06E0894LIC_OutageResponsesToCityCouncil.pdf] Con Edison's August 11, 2006 response to questions asked at the New York City Counsel Committee Hearing]

After the Blackout

In response to perceived inadequacies of Con Edison's response, on Monday July 24, Councilmember Eric Gioia has called for the ousting of the CEO, Kevin Burke, on WNYC's radio show the Brian Lehrer Show.

Hearings were held in August 2006 by the New York Public Service Commission. James Gallagher, Director of the Office of Electricity and Environment of the New York Department of Public Service, testified that the blackout represented a "significant public health and safety risk" and a "significant economic loss." [ [http://www.dps.state.ny.us/Testimony-CityCouncilCommitteeonConsumerAffairs.pdf] "Written testimony of James T. Gallagher," August 22, 2006]

ee also

*List of power outages

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/437428p-368557c.html New York Daily News]
* [http://www.dps.state.ny.us/06E0894.htm New York State Public Service Commission: Queens Power Outage]
* [http://www.coned.com/messages/Mayors%20Report.pdf Con Ed, Initial report to the Mayor, August 2, 2006]