2nd Destructive Storm in a Week Packs a Wallop; Con Edison Working to Restore Customers Impacted from Last Friday's Storm, Plus Nearly 30,000 New Outages

After a second destructive storm in less than a week pounded the Northeast with snow, wind and rain, slowing restoration efforts from last Friday’s storm, Con Edison crews are once again dealing with hundreds of downed wires and trees, and working with municipalities to clear blocked roads as they work to restore customers as quickly as possible.

Con Edison expects storm restorations for outages from both storms to last into the weekend, with high priority given to customers impacted by the first storm

While nearly 2,000 Con Edison and mutual aid utility workers reduced 140,000 outages to 6,500 over five days, yesterday’s storm spiked power outages again, with the number of outages in Con Edison’s service area rising to 35,000 overnight. Crews worked throughout the overnight period to reduce outages to just under 30,000 by daybreak, including one crew removing a downed tree and wires blocking a road to Northern Westchester Hospital.

Con Edison will focus today on working with municipalities to help clear over 100 new road closures caused by downed trees and wires in last night’s storm and restoring customers to service, with a keen focus on restoring those Westchester customers impacted by last week’s storm. For more detailed information, check out our outage map.

Safety is important. Snow has covered downed wires. Be aware of your surroundings, alert children to the continuing danger, and safeguard pets.

Con Edison reminds members of the public to stay away from downed wires because they may be live.

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.