Targeting Con Ed — Again

Here we go again: Gov. Cuomo says he was “personally disappointed” with utility companies after hundreds of thousands of people lost power during Tropical Storm Isaias and is threatening that their “franchise can be revoked.”

“I’m not bluffing,” he warned. Maybe, but New Yorkers have heard that song before. Just last summer, in fact — after Brooklyn battled a blackout.

Sure, utilities should be held accountable, but the state does regulate them.

Besides, it’s nothing more than pure politics to threaten their franchises because of power outages after a bad storm. Tempests happen, and they take down trees, which take down wires. Companies work to clear the damage as soon as they can.

And the utilities did brace for the storm — Con Edison had 500 people pre-staged in the city and Westchester. But forecasts called for mostly rain and flooding. The company wasn’t expecting the heavy winds that toppled thousands of trees.

Prudent pruning might have prevented much of the damage, but trees are on municipal right-of-ways and private land, and most homeowners love trees — until they fall and cause days-long power outages.

Con Ed sent 3,800 workers to deal with the damage, and they focused first on critical sites, such as hospitals and police stations. Residential areas often had to wait.

It’s easy for pols like Cuomo to rail against the utilities: They’re never popular, especially at times like these.

But who would he install in their place and how would he deal with the issue of trillions of dollars in infrastructure? Cuomo doesn’t answer these questions because his threats aren’t serious.

Mayor de Blasio and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams are equally off-base in suggesting a municipal takeover of Con Ed.

That’s the last thing Gotham needs — an essential service run by what might be the most incompetent administration in the city’s history.

A week after Isaias, more than 1,000 people in Queens still don’t have power. The city and Con Ed need creative solutions to minimize the damage the next time a big storm hits — as it unquestionably will.

But threatening to revoke a franchise or proposing a government takeover are simply not helpful solutions.