Senator Persaud, SE Brooklyn Elected Officials Call on Con Edison to Reimburse All Residents Affected by Recent Power Outages

After over 33,000 households in Southeast Brooklyn experienced power outages last weekend, with many kept in the dark for days, Senator Persaud is calling on Con Edison to reimburse those affected.

On Sunday evening, July 21, following an intense heatwave, Con Edison stated that approximately 33,000 households in Canarsie, Georgetown, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, Flatlands and other nearby communities in Southeast Brooklyn lost electricity. The electric company reported working on making repairs, reducing voltage throughout the affected area to prevent a more significant blackout, and restoring service as quickly as possible.  They also cautioned that power might not return until the next day.

By early Monday morning, Jul 22, Con Edison reported restoring electricity for roughly 30,000 customers, but thousands of households still suffered in the heat throughout the day and into the night. Monday night’s severe thunderstorm and flash flood caused additional outages and delay in the restoration of electricity. 

In a statement released on Monday, Con Edison said, “We are completely focused on getting customers back in service, and we regret the distress they are under. The actions we took were necessary to prevent longer outages to the impacted customers that would have occurred as a result of additional equipment damage…”

Since the power outage, Senator Persaud has been actively updating constituents on Con Edison’s actions through social media and emails. She has expressed disappointment in Con Edison’s failure to keep the lights on for countless Brooklynites in her district and their response time to restore service. "We are in the third day of the outage and hopeful by evening power will be fully restored," Senator Persaud said on Tuesday, July 23. Later in the evening, Con Edison informed the Senator that all services have been restored.

“For days New York and the entire tristate area were warned about the incoming heatwave, yet Con Edison was unprepared. Over 30,000 households were in the dark and unable to keep cool in their homes when they needed it most. That is unacceptable,” Senator Persaud said. “Con Edison must answer for this disastrous turn of events and adequately compensate those who suffered from their inadequacy.”

The Senator is calling on Con Edison to sufficiently credit the utility bills of residents who were impacted by the power outages as well as waive the requirement for their reimbursement claim. She noted that customers who lost electricity for less than twelve hours should be allowed to submit reimbursement claims for perishable goods, and that requiring receipts should be waived. 

Senator Persaud and her fellow elected officials in Southeast Brooklyn intend to send a formal letter to Con Edison regarding the matter.

“I stand in solidarity with my fellow electeds as well my constituents and neighbors, as I myself am a resident that was personally affected," said Assemblymember Jaime R. Williams, 59th Assembly District. "In light of the recent Manhattan outage and the overwhelming assurances by ConEd that outages such as those that occurred in the 59th Assembly District would not occur despite the temperature exceeding the 100 degree mark; it is all the more distressing and concerning such a power outage occurred and lasted for so long. The issuance of reimbursements and credits are a step in the right direct but first and foremost ConEd must step up and properly evaluate its infrastructure and take any and all steps to make sure that disasters such as this recent outage in Southern Brooklyn never occur again. The officials of ConEd have a lot to answer for as to why this occurred and a formal inquiry will follow these events.”

In addition to Assemblymember Williams, Councilmembers Alan N. Maisel, 46th Council District, and Mark Treyger, 47th Council District, plan to sign on to the letter.