Following Tropical Storm Isaias, residents of New York and New Jersey experienced widespread power outages. While many people are already facing hardships due to the COVID-19 crisis, utilities faced severe criticism for slow responses in power restoration. Typically utilities will not pay claims for loss due to power outage; however, at this time, PSEG and ConEd are both offering customers reimbursements for the loss of perishable food and medication.
For PSEG customers:
- Power must have been out for more than 72 consecutive hours
- Residential customers can be reimbursed for food up to $250 and commercial customers can be reimbursed up to $5,000
- Residential customers can be reimbursed an addtional $300 for medications
- Claims must be submitted by September 16, 2020.
- More information is available at nj.myaccount.pseg.com/customersupport/damageandtheft
For ConEd customers:
- Power must have been out for more than 48 consecutive hours
- Residential customers can be reimbursed up to $500, and commercial customers can be reimbursed up to $10,700
- Claims must be submitted within 30 days of the outage
- Claims forms and more information are available at coned.com/en/services-and-outages/claim-form