LIE-PA
by Nithin Sunilkumar
The Long Island Power Authority has received a lot of flak for their poor handling of the recent natural catastrophe that was Hurricane Sandy. Many victims in the area of the hurricane had to live without electricity or heat for many weeks, including many students and faculty at New Hyde Park. LIPA, one of the nation’s largest and most expensive power authorities, has shown remarkable ineptitude in responding to our current crisis. With a number of outdated and broken systems, and an understaffed office in long island, LIPA has drawn the ire of a number of public officials, including a verbal lashing from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Governor Cuomo said, “We simply need to keep LIPA accountable,” and described the utility system as “archaic and obsolete”. He criticized LIPA for the slow-moving response and delayed reaction to Hurricane Sandy, as the company failed to act swiftly while tens of thousands of LIPA customers lived without power. He stated that LIPA cannot simply be fixed; it must be overhauled and start a new system. "They have failed the consumers," Cuomo said. LIPA was supposed to be the primary defense and relief system in such a situation, and the company failed to come to the aide of the people efficiently and effectively. As a result, thousands of LIPA customers suffered during the aftermath of the hurricane without any heat or electricity. Customers were distraught as a direct result of LIPA’s incompetency in handling the situation; LIPA will need to clean up their act if such a disaster strikes again. If LIPA fails to act if such a situation comes again, the state government may not be so hesitant to reduce their funding.
LIPA took even more criticism by customers via social media. Thanks to social media, Twitter and Facebook, customers’ criticism was magnified. Much of the scrutiny LIPA faced during the storm was fueled by the engine of the twenty-first century--social media. Customers were appalled to see the inability of LIPA to respond to such a large-scale crisis.
Recently, the chairman of LIPA, Howard Steinberg, resigned from office after the harsh criticism he received as a result of his poor management of Hurricane Sandy. It is clear that the ineptitude shown by LIPA was the reason why Steinberg resigned as chariman. Howard E. Steinberg wrote, in a letter of apology to Governor Cuomo, “Regrettably, my full-time and ongoing professional responsibilities in the private sector preclude me from being able to continue to devote the time required to address the many challenges still facing LIPA.” Steinberg’s resignation followed that of many other LIPA officials, including trustees, chief operating officers, and customer service officials.
LIPA may get a second chance to redeem their failures, but who knows if they can handle another situation on the scale of Hurricane Sandy? It may be time to reconsider whether LIPA can be trusted to handle the day-to-day operations of Long Island. LIPA failed before and, can potentially fail in the future. The citizens of Long Island have their fingers crossed that another catastrophic event with the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy does not enter the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Conneticut again. The damage has been done and it will be LIPA’s job to heal any wounds. Are the wounds too great for LIPA to heal?
LIPA took even more criticism by customers via social media. Thanks to social media, Twitter and Facebook, customers’ criticism was magnified. Much of the scrutiny LIPA faced during the storm was fueled by the engine of the twenty-first century--social media. Customers were appalled to see the inability of LIPA to respond to such a large-scale crisis.
Recently, the chairman of LIPA, Howard Steinberg, resigned from office after the harsh criticism he received as a result of his poor management of Hurricane Sandy. It is clear that the ineptitude shown by LIPA was the reason why Steinberg resigned as chariman. Howard E. Steinberg wrote, in a letter of apology to Governor Cuomo, “Regrettably, my full-time and ongoing professional responsibilities in the private sector preclude me from being able to continue to devote the time required to address the many challenges still facing LIPA.” Steinberg’s resignation followed that of many other LIPA officials, including trustees, chief operating officers, and customer service officials.
LIPA may get a second chance to redeem their failures, but who knows if they can handle another situation on the scale of Hurricane Sandy? It may be time to reconsider whether LIPA can be trusted to handle the day-to-day operations of Long Island. LIPA failed before and, can potentially fail in the future. The citizens of Long Island have their fingers crossed that another catastrophic event with the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy does not enter the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Conneticut again. The damage has been done and it will be LIPA’s job to heal any wounds. Are the wounds too great for LIPA to heal?