Here’s yet another example of massive government failure. After Hurricane Sandy struck the New York City area knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, the state-run Long Island Power Authority only requested help from an additional 700 workers. They needed 10,000. No wonder so many New Yorkers are still shivering in the dark.

As superstorm Sandy menaced the East Coast, officials at Long Island’s biggest power company asked other utilities to lend it 700 workers to help get the electricity flowing again. But the utility says it has needed 10,000 extra workers to handle the job, many of which it got only after line crews finished work for other electric companies.

This miscalculation by LIPA was only the latest problem at the Long Island Power Authority, the government-owned utility that covers some of New York City’s most densely packed suburbs. Many of the utility’s failures stem from long-standing issues that have been detailed for years in reports commissioned by many levels of government, including the agency itself.

Among them: a physical system ravaged by years of neglect, a reliance on archaic, labor-intensive methods to gather information on outages and assign repair crews, and inadequate communications with customers, reports have shown.

LIPA declined to respond to detailed questions. But Paul DeCotis, vice president of power markets for LIPA, acknowledged the company let its customers down. “We had a Katrina moment,” he said, referring to the hurricane that devastated New Orleans in 2005. (Read More)

But don’t worry. Governor Cuomo is ordering another study. That should help.

Update: Linked by Daily Pundit – thanks!