LIPA’s Isaias Task Force issued a 90-Day Report to the LIPA Board of Trustees, elected officials, and stakeholders. The 90-Day Report expanded on the findings of the 30-Day Report and addresses broader questions on the effectiveness of PSEG Long Island’s management of utility operations.
The 90-Day Report concluded, based on extensive analysis, that the problems PSEG Long Island experienced restoring power during and after Tropical Storm Isaias were preventable and that their root cause was management failures rather than technical issues.
In fact, the investigation found that PSEG Long Island knew that critical information technology systems were performing poorly and too insufficient action to address the problems. In one such email dated July 16, PSEG Long Island staff alerted management on Long Island and in New Jersey that PSEG Long Island was “NOT even managing on a day-by-day basis and [PSEG Long Island is] definitely NOT prepared for a weather event. Management needs to know this is no closer to being resolved after 3 weeks.” However, PSEG Long Island management failed to take prudent steps to either fix the systems that were failing or to implement contingency plans.
PSEG Long Island management also failed to inform LIPA of these issues before, during or after the storm, which were only uncovered as a result of the investigation. Instead, PSEG Long Island attempted to deflect blame on Verizon for its own failures.
