Senate President Steve Sweeney says NJ must learn lessons from Super Storm Sandy.
Gas stations without electricity or fuel are just the beginning of the issues that need to be addressed following the Super Storm Sandy. Sweeney says he’s working in a bi-partisan fashion with Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. to figure out what New Jersey can and must do.
He explains, “There were seniors trapped 30 floors up because the elevators were out (due to power loss)…….My brother is the head of an emergency room in central New Jersey and he told me (some) places that provide kidney dialysis (have) no back-up generators.”
Sweeney says, “We can do something about this stuff. We absolutely can do something and we’re going to.”
Although we have not yet seen legislation introduced in the Senate or Assembly, the Senate President claims to have had a bill in place long before Sandy struck that would require gas stations to have back-up generators. In a typical reactive manor that so often sums up our Legislators actions in Trenton, He is now hoping to have that legislation passed. He also claims to be working with Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. to usher through measures requiring back-up power in every location where it’s necessary.
“Another thing we’re going to do is we’re going to have a hearing in the near future and we’re going to bring in the utilities,” says Sweeney. “There have been a lot of lessons learned and the one thing you don’t do is exactly what you've always done which is put it back the way it was.”
Electrical Contractors would not oppose the Generator measures, However, as Electrical Contractors we have rarely been supportive of measures from Government that impose their will on us. That especially applies to measures that impose added costs to doing business. In regard to the Fuel Stations we do not believe this will be accomplished without opposition from the Independent Fuel Oil Distributors and Service Station Owners who would be forced to bear additional costs to their businesses.
Electrical Contractors would move to make sure that language was included in the bill that would reiterate existing law that ONLY Licensed Electrical Contractors can install the electric wiring associated with Stand By Generators. This would not only protect the interests of Electrical Contractors it would protect the Safety of the General Public.
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