Con Edison: - messages

July 21, 2006
9:30 p.m.

A Message to Customers in Northwest Queens

Hundreds of repair crews, with support from Con Edison's engineering and staff, are doing everything possible to restore power in northwest Queens. Throughout this work it may be necessary to briefly take some customer out of service in order to safely complete the necessary repairs.

The North Queens substation supplies the Long Island City network through 22 primary feeders, totaling nearly 300 miles in length, and 1,200 network transformers. They supply electricity in an extensive system of 4,400 manholes, 11,000 service boxes, and 1,700 miles of secondary wire, all of which combine to deliver power to approximately 115,000 customers.

A network consists of primary feeders supplying transformers that supply secondary feeders that are part of a 120 V grid. Customers are supplied by service cables connected to the secondary grid. Our network systems are designed to withstand the loss of any two primary feeders in a network on the hottest day of the year, without any impact on customers.

On Tuesday, July 18, as temperatures rose into the 90s on the fourth day of a heat wave, several primary feeder cables in the network developed problems and went out of service. Our network systems are designed to withstand the loss of any two feeders in a network on the hottest day of the year, without any impact on customers. When a primary feeder is out of service, other feeders in the network pick up the electrical demand the primary feeder was carrying.

As temperature continued to rise on Tuesday, the demand for electricity also rose, increasing the electricity flowing on the feeders. Concurrently, several primary feeders went out of service. By late Tuesday evening, 10 of the 22 primary feeder cables in the network were out of service and several of the remaining feeders were nearing overload conditions.

By Thursday, Con Edison crews were able to repair and restore the primary feeders and begin the process of identifying and restoring the damage to the secondary grid. Con Edison engineers and field crews have been working day and night to identify and repair all the damage to the system in our manholes and underground service conduits as quickly as possible so that full customer restoration can be achieved. However, the heat and stress from the overloaded primary cables took its toll on the secondary system – the transformers that lower voltage, and the smaller wires that carry electricity to customers. The result was a series of manhole fires, burning wires, and damaged transformers throughout the network, knocking out power to many homes and businesses in northwest Queens. Crews are inspecting manholes, service boxes, transformers, and cable, and are repairing or replacing damaged equipment.

In the past, the number of customers out of service in a network area was determined only after customers called in to report the outage. This process has proven to be adequate in the past. However, in this case, the total number of customers reported as out of service was approximately 1,200. Because of the unique events in northwest Queens, last night some of our employees drove through the streets of Long Island City and performed a visual inspection of the affected areas. Based on this survey, the number of customers out of service was estimated to be approximately 25,000. We continue to encourage customers to call us at 1-800-75-CONED to report any power problems.

We understand the frustration of people who are experiencing power outages and appreciate their patience. Please know that our focus is always on our customers - keeping the power on, and quickly and safely restoring power to those who have lost it.