In light of the recent widespread outages from tropical storm Isaias, Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D-Newburgh) is introducing legislation to havethe Public Service Commission study the feasibility and costs of burying power lines throughout New York State. “How many times do we have to live through this nightmare with wind and rainstorms in the summer and fall and blizzards in the winter,” said Jacobson. “It took the Great Blizzard of 1888 for New York City to bury its power and telephone poles. We should not have to wait any longer.”
“The cost of burying power lines pales to the inconvenience and costs to individuals and businesses every time there is a major storm,” Jacobson continued.
Central Hudson reported that over 115,000 customers lost power due to the storm. Over 57% of customers in the City of Newburgh, 35% in the Town of Newburgh, 26% in the City of Poughkeepsie and 24% in the City of Beacon have been affected.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. This recurring problem will not go away by itself. We must explore new options,” concluded Jacobson.
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