PSEG Long Island laid out its plan Wednesday to prevent a repeat of the response following Tropical Storm Isaias – which knocked out power for more than a week in some areas.

The company briefed LIPA trustees on its multipronged plan during a two-hour virtual meeting. It includes strengthening the infrastructure as well as improving communications and internal and external resources – such as increasing the number of line workers.

“We've already taken a lot of initiatives on already,” says Daniel Eichhorn, the utility’s president and COO. “There will be medium term, and then there will be longer term.”

Eichhorn says there were “capacity issues” at the PSEG Long Island call center during the early August storm.

“We've made some configuration changes, we've switched to a business service, provided by Verizon, that gives us more trunk lines and more capacity.”

State Sen. Jim Gaughran also testified today.

“My concern is that they're not ready for the next storm. One of the big problems is that the LIPA really doesn't have the staff or the tools to provide the oversight of PSEG,” he said. “LIPA can only make recommendations to PSEG. PSEG could totally ignore them.”

Eichhorn disputes that, saying under its contract with LIPA, PSEG faces stiff penalties for failure.

When asked by News 12 if the utility is ready for the next storm, Eichhorn responded:

“By virtue of going through the storm that we did, we learned a lot, and we're preparing differently. Tomorrow, we're actually doing a storm drill where we are simulating the same type of situation that occurred in Isaias."

Eichhorn said PSEG is still hoping for federal reimbursement for storms costs. He adds he does not expect the improvements the company is planning to have a "major impact" on customer bills.