On February 24, 2010 hundreds of thousands of residents in New York State's Hudson Valley region were left without electricity after two severe winter storms. This hearing will examine several issues, including: investigating what factors contributed to the severity and duration of the outages; whether the response was timely and adequate; whether the investor owned utilities charged with maintaining the integrity of the electric grid had proper plans and staffing in place; whether recommendations stemming from previous outages were implemented and if so, were they effective, and; recommendations to reduce the possibility of future outages.

Oral testimony will be accepted by invitation only. Ten copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements. Written testimony will also be accepted and may be sent to the contact person listed on the reply form and/or may be submitted at the hearing registration desk.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committee's interest in receiving written testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

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Persons wishing to present testimony at the public hearing on the power outages caused by the February 2010 blizzards are requested to complete this reply form as soon as possible and mail it to: