Queens power crisis: more problems ahead?

  Eyewitness News

(Sunnyside-WABC, July 25, 2006) (WABC) -- Right now, 122 customers are still without power in Queens. That translates into roughly 500 people.

As the lights come back on, one of those lights -- the spotlight -- is now shining directly and brightly on Con Ed. The giant utility is now taking the lion's share of the blame for the crisis.

And the worry on the minds of New Yorkers who were blacked out: what are the odds this will happen again?

Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Pegues has that part of the story.

At sunset on Tuesday, Con Ed crews dropped another feeder cable into the ground. Amid the maze of barricades and frayed power lines there is so much work to be done.

And now we've learned that residents in several Queens neighborhoods should get used to seeing Con Ed cones on their block. As temperatures rise and demand for electricity increases, Con Ed officials don't know what to expect from a system under repair.

John Miksad, Con Ed: "It's going to be a while for us to get to that point where we can say we've got full reliability that all the other networks enjoy."

And that means more possible outages.

Inside Con Ed's command center, John Miksad, a senior vp, acknowledged there will likely be more difficult days ahead for the 100,000 residents of Queens affected by the blackout. There are no guarantees, he says, that the temporary fixes in place will hold up.

"That's a really good question. ... We're hoping that it will," Miksad said.

That response does not satisfy Queens city Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.

Over the past several days he has been a vocal critic of Con Ed's blackout response and the company's chairman.

Vallone: "That's outrageous and that's why Kevin Burke needs to go. We were assured the system would hold up."

Con ed officials say the plan now is to be prepared to respond with an army of workers should the system in place fail. But with the prospect of more power outages on the horizon, that plan isn't an adequate remedy for residents who went without electricity for days.

Kathy Potucek, Astoria resident: "No, no that's not fair. I don't like that at all."

Con Ed Reimbursements

As more and more people get their power back in Queens, they're beginning to take stock of their losses. If you're hoping to get reimbursed by Con Ed, there are some things you need to know.

To find reimbursement forms and other assistance information for Queens residents and businesses, click here.

Con Ed Crews Harassed

They've been working grueling hours and been the target of public frustration and anger. For Con Ed crews, it has been a tough week. Now, Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Rossen gets up close and personal with the workers.

Raw emotion is getting ugly and Con Ed workers are getting sick of it. There is so much venom aimed at Con Ed management, but the problem is, you don't have access to management, so you settle for the next best thing.

"They see us, they don't see the management ... so right away they're going to take it out on us," a Con Ed worker said.

There are reports of neighbors actually spitting on workers, and that's not all.

"They were throwing fish at them last week ... one of the trucks was shot at by a paintball ... I mean, how much are we supposed to take ... We're trying to restore this outage," a Con Ed worker said.

"We haven't seen our family in days ...we have a lot of guys staying in hotels cause they live too far away. It's just as tough for us as it is for them," a Con Ed worker said.

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