In the aftermath of Sandy, there was a slew of legislation in the works dealing with gas stations and utility companies. Now, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13) is calling for cable companies to provide rebates to affected customers. She tells Senior Correspondent Desirée Taylor that while some cable companies are doing the right thing, others like Comcast are putting the onus on customers to take the initiative.
In Handlin’s opinion, “consumers have much more important phone calls to make right now while they’re trying to rebuild their lives and the companies ought to provide these rebates automatically.”
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That’s just one of the pieces of legislation that Handlin is looking into more than two weeks after the storm hit. Like many others in her town of Middletown and surrounding areas of Holmdel, Marlboro and elsewhere, she lost power for two weeks.
“The power companies, in my case it was JCP&L, need to be put on notice that they do not have a God given right to provide power to New Jersey towns,” said Handlin. “I know that many mayors are scrutinizing the contracts they hold with those power companies to see if they have an opportunity to find other providers.” To that objective, Handlin is working with Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-40) to examine legislation that would make it easier for towns to boot out companies guilty of “gross incompetence.”
Monmouth County towns like Keansburg, Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach were hit hard by the storm. Handlin says she has run out of words to describe the storm’s devastation.
“I saw houses washed blocks away from their foundations and torn into fragments by the waves. I saw buildings without rooves, without walls, without windows. The beach-side businesses and bulkheads and boardwalks have been swept into the ocean. It was a catastrophic event.”
Moving forward, Handlin says it’s time to learn some lessons from this latest disaster. One of those lessons, she says, includes making sure gas stations are equipped with generators so that thousands of gallons of gasoline don’t go unused during widespread power outages.
“Of course we understand that that would impose some costs on small businesses and my cosponsors and I are looking at ways to mitigate that but the public health and welfare have to be paramount.”