Hurricane Sandy, an enormous disaster from the outset, has become a much worse one due to the painfully slow restoration of power and supplies to storm-ravaged New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and neighboring areas. Per CBS,
As the power outages on Long Island drag on, New Yorkers railed Sunday against the utility that has lagged behind others in restoring power, criticizing its slow pace as well as a dearth of information.
That utility is LIPA, the Long Island Power Authority, and as its name implies LIPA is not a private company but an agency of New York State with a long history of being used by New York politicians to pursue their goals. I will leave to other critics the question of how LIPA’s history as a public-sector entity has influenced its capabilities for disaster response but per a New York Post account, local residents don’t seem impressed with its performance:
A Long Island Power Authority official told a crowd of 300 Rockaway residents that they would need to hire a licensed city electrician to inspect their homes before LIPA could restore power, and suggested the homeowners print out inspection forms — from the Internet.“But we don’t have power!” the crowd shouted back at LIPA’s vice president of operations, Nicholas Lizanich. …“On a scale of zero to 100, I give [LIPA] a zero,” grumbled homeowner Jim Silvestri, who asked whether he could use a Nassau County-certified electrician and was told no.“There’s not enough licensed electricians in the City of New York to take care of this,” he added.
Read more at http://www.cato.org/blog/sandy-lipa-occupational-licensure-blues
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