Two New York utilities recently considered their role as emergency responders...
Two New York utilities recently considered their role as emergency responders and the best ways to communicate with customers during storms, as detailed in a new report submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission (http://xrl.us/bnnhn9). New York State…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Electric & Gas Corporation and Rochester Gas and Electric submitted the Monday joint report responding to PSC staff recommendations. The utilities said they still communicate with customers using “traditional” methods such as the call center and VRU [voice response unit] but identified new forms of technology that are helping them reach affected individuals. “NYSEG utilized automated calls technology to the Elderly, Blind, Disabled (EBD) and Life support customers prior to storms and during the outages,” they said. “We are continuing to consider additional outreach using this method of communication. We are finalizing a contract with a vendor who provides outbound dialing as well as text messaging.” The report described how NYSEG used Twitter, which it’s now attempted for 18 months, during the storms as well as how it’s hoping to expand its basic Facebook presence in 2013. The utilities are also “investigating Mobile Smart Phone solutions,” they said. “This technology utilizes existing web functionality to allow customers to report outages or check the status of an outage from their device."