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New Year Means New Power Utility For Long Islanders

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The new year has brought with it a new power authority for Long Island residents.

Now that Public Service Enterprise Group has taken over Long Island Power Authority, there is one important question on the minds of Long Islanders: What happens when the lights go out?

New Year Means New Power Utility For Long Islanders

As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported Wednesday, many customers want to know how the utility plans to handle outages in the face of future storms.

New PSEG Long Island President David Daly told Hall that residents need not to worry. "We are implementing several new technologies, which will have a significant impact on communication -- the use of social media, some technologies in our call centers, which will help our customers get the information they are looking for quicker," Daly said.

According to Daly, 2,200 employees were added on Long Island when the power hand-off took place.

When asked about the snowstorm predicted to dump several inches of the white stuff across the Tri-State area on Thursday, Daly said his company is ready.

"The people are in place.  We have the right equipment chains for the tires in a snow event," said Daly.

Newark-based PSEG won a 12-year, $5 billion contract to take over LIPA after residents and officials demanded change in the wake of LIPA's response to Hurricane Sandy and the snowstorm that followed it.

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