Story from Bloomberg BusinessweekRelated story from CBS News-NYC (includes link to civil complaint)A brief summary of what is going on here:
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which is responsible for providing electric power to Nassau and Suffolk Counties of New York and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, has been named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit along with
National Grid, the parent company of KeySpan Energy (LIPA's grid operator). The suit was commenced in the New York State Supreme Court (which is the trial court in NY, don't ask me why it's called that).
The complaint, which is
viewable on Google Docs, contains three counts, alleging negligence in maintenance of facilities, breach of contract, and fraudulent misrepresentations to the customers of these companies, many of whom are still without power or heat.
Furthermore, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has assembled a commission to investigate utility companies' failures in responding to the outages caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Meanwhile, LIPA's Chief Operating Officer, Michael Hervey, has submitted his resignation
according to Long Island Newsday, the local newspaper of Nassau & Suffolk counties.
