How Do You Grade LIPA's Performance in Riverhead?

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week graded the Long Island Power Authority's response to Superstorm Sandy, and he gave the utility an "F."

"The management has failed the consumers," Cuomo said. "This is what they get paid to do. We paid them and we gave them a franchise because they represented themselves as experts at doing this."

Among the failures, he pointed out that LIPA ran out of utility poles to replace the ones that toppled during the storm.

But National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said this week that LIPA and its lineworkers deserve more credit. Ladd and an electrical union official said LIPA crews are working 16-hour shifts, with eight hours off. Those crews and their trucks, many from out-of-state, were mostly out of service during the nor'easter, which hit Wednesday. "They do have to eat and sleep," Ladd said. "We are very serious about safety and don't want to put customers or our workers in danger."

"We are working closely with government officials and we hold calls twice a day with elected officials to update them on our progress," Ladd said. "We are receiving more crews every day and we continue to work on this system restoring power as quickly and safely as possible."

How would you rate LIPA's performance in responding to Superstorm Sandy and this week's nor'easter? Give LIPA a grade of "A" to "F" and leave a comment explaining why. We'd also like to know if you got your LIPA bill this week, and what you did with it.