Con Edison Begins Massive Cleanup from 2nd Violent Storm, Restores Customers

Con Edison crews worked with municipal crews today to clear downed trees that blocked roads in Westchester County, and restored electrical service to customers affected by the two recent violent storms.

Company personnel worked with local municipalities to begin clearing more than 200 roads in the county blocked by trees and branches knocked down by yesterday’s heavy, wet snow and powerful winds.

In many of those instances, electrical wires were tangled in the trees. Those wires have to be de-energized and untangled. Then the trees are cut and removed, along with other debris.

It makes the restoration of customers a mammoth, 24-7 job. Con Edison has 2,000 workers – including several hundred from out-of-state utilities – working on the rebuild and restoration from both storms.

Approximately 100 mutual aid workers were reassigned to their home utilities to deal with damage in their own service areas caused by yesterday’s storm. Eighty Con Edison workers assigned to Puerto Rico, who were due to return from their assignments next week, will return this weekend. Those workers have been restoring power to the island following last year’s hurricanes.

Con Edison restored service to all but about 5,500 of the approximately 140,000 customers affected by last Friday’s storm. But yesterday’s storm increased the number of outages to about 35,000.

Currently, about 21,700 customers are without service. Of those about 19,400 are in Westchester. Con Edison has restored customers since the second storm via remote switching and with the hard work of field workers who go up in bucket trucks, string wiring, replace poles and connect new transformers.

The company is prioritizing restoring customers who lost service in the first storm. The restoration of those customers and the restoration of customers from yesterday’s storm will go into the weekend.

Con Edison reminds members of the public to stay away from downed wires because they may be live. Snow has covered downed wires. Be aware of your surroundings, alert children to the continuing danger, and safeguard pets.

Proper caution also should be exercised in the safe use of portable generators, which must be placed outside the premises a safe distance away to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Crews restoring service first focus on repairs to critical facilities, such as hospitals, municipal pumping stations and schools.

Customers can report downed power lines, outages and check service restoration status at www.conEd.com or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). When reporting an outage, customers should have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power.

Customers who report outages will be called by Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.

Con Edison offers a number of mobile solutions so you can manage your accounts, report and check the status of an outage, learn energy-saving tips, and more. Text REG to OUTAGE (688243) to sign up for text notifications, and follow the prompts. You will need to enter your Con Edison account number to complete the registration process. Once you've registered, you will not need your account number to report or check the status of a power problem. Or visit us here to stay on top of outages and power problems by signing up for text notifications.

Con Edison offers the following storm tips:

• Do not go near downed wires because they could be live. Never attempt to move them or touch them with any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by snow, tree limbs, leaves or water.
• Report downed wires to Con Edison and your local police department immediately. If a power line falls on your car while you’re in it, stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency personnel.
• If your power goes out, disconnect or turn off appliances that would otherwise turn on automatically when service is restored. If several appliances start up at once, the electric circuits may overload.
• Make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios or televisions are working. Have a supply of extra batteries. Weather updates and news on electrical service can be heard on local radio and television stations.
• For more storm tips, go to Con Edison storm safety.

Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or like us on Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information.