LIPA trustees question PSEG on storm computer issues

By Mark Harringtonmark.harrington@newsday.com MHarringtonNewsUpdated July 27, 2022

LIPA trustees at a board meeting Wednesday expressed renewed frustration that computer-system issues that plagued the utility after Tropical Storm Isaias may still linger, while criticizing PSEG for failing to send an official to the meeting to address their concerns in person.

Trustees were briefed Wednesday on the most recent findings of a LIPA Isaias task force, including "failures" with PSEG's testing protocols for a newly implemented computer system to manage customer outages. The work has cost $45 million since Isaias, LIPA reported.

LIPA's report, first reported in Newsday, said it was “difficult to tell whether the outage-management system works as it should” after discovering 36% of LIPA’s own tests using PSEG’s testing methodology “have failed to date” because of “inadequate documentation, poorly written test scripts and scripts that plainly do not work.”

PSEG took issue with the report, saying it had "successfully performed and completed all testing" using "industry best-practices under the observation of LIPA" and New York State regulators.

The LIPA tests are a prelude to full-system stress tests that LIPA still must conduct to be certain PSEG's newly installed computer system works following a series of failures during Tropical Storm Isaias, which saw 535,000 customers lose power for up to a week.

"This is just terrifying that we're two years removed and can have a storm next week and we don't have a functional outage management system," LIPA vice chairman Mark Fischl said.

LIPA chief executive Tom Falcone noted that failure of the tests doesn't necessarily mean the system doesn't work. Indeed, PSEG has said the new system has functioned properly in recent heat storms that saw thousands of outages.

"Well, we don't know if it's functional or not," Falcone said. "We're not saying it doesn't work, we're not saying it does work … We don't know."

PSEG has said LIPA's testing of the system "did not demonstrate that the system was not functional, but rather that the LIPA testers could not execute the test scripts without assistance." PSEG said its tests "were developed to be executed by individuals with strong knowledge of business processes and outage management system functionality," and said it would "continue to provide" support and training and support to LIPA and consultants.

LIPA task force member Osman Ahmad called PSEG's explanation a "rationalization" and said it's industry standard to have tests that can be run "independently" by those other than the developers.

More frustrating to some trustees was that PSEG officials weren't on hand at the full board meeting to answer their questions.

"I note this is the first board meeting that I've ever attended where there is no representative of PSEG present," said trustee Elkan Abramowitz, noting LIPA's contract requires PSEG officials be present "if requested."

"I want this comment to be clear, that we request that they be at every board meeting," Abramowitz said. "We wasted 15 minutes here trying to interpret what they're doing when they could have answered it" directly.

Added trustee Sheldon Cohen, "I think we're wasting a lot of time, it's frustrating listening to this without the other side of the story." He called it "imperative" that PSEG officials be at "every meeting at a minimum to be accountable for these results."

Fischl during a board committee meeting earlier in the day raised questions about PSEG's computer technology staffing levels after PSEG reported it was $4.1 million under budget in 2022 "due to open vacancies in information technology and strategic planning & analytics."

Greg Filipkowski, chief information officer for PSEG Long Island, said the company was "making good progress" in filling a lot of our openings" and added, "While these permanent full-time positions are still open, we are actively recruiting for them."

In the meantime, he said, PSEG was "bringing on [outside] consulting resources" and the "work was still getting done."

"It is a tight labor market," Filipowski explained. "There's a high demand for technology folks, we are making good progress, but we are backfilling with consultants during the time we are recruiting for those permanent positions."