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Additional Crews Supplement Con Edison Push to Restore Customers

  • Con Edison Media Relations

  • New York – August 08, 2020 -- 07:30 PM

Utility crews arriving from outside the region are supplementing Con Edison’s 24-7 restoration of customers affected by Storm Isaias, whittling outage numbers to 66,000.

The focus is on Westchester, where about 41,000 customers have no service. In New York City, Queens has about 14,000, the Bronx 8,000, Staten Island 1,500, and Brooklyn over 1,200 remaining out.

“We realize it’s very frustrating to be without electricity,” said Matthew Ketschke, Con Edison’s senior vice president of Customer Energy Solutions, “and that’s why we have crews working around the clock to restore power. We’re committed to doing this job quickly and safely, and we won’t rest until every customer is back in service.”

Because the health pandemic has made it even more difficult to be without power, Con Edison announced an expanded claims policy. Customers without power for 48 hours or more since Thursday can fill out a claims form to cover spoiled food, medication, or perishable commercial merchandise.

Line workers making repairs

Westchester County communities with significant numbers of customers remaining out include: Yonkers, Rye, New Rochelle, North Castle, New Castle and Mamaroneck. In Queens, neighborhoods with significant numbers include Flushing, Elmhurst, Ozone Park and Ridgewood.

In the Bronx, outages are concentrated in Allerton, Baychester, Riverdale, Throgs Neck, Wakefield and Woodlawn. In Staten Island, the areas with the most outages include Grant City, Eltingville, St. George, Willowbrook and Annadale. In Brooklyn, Flatbush and Sheepshead Bay have significant numbers of outages.

Con Edison expects the vast majority of customers affected by the storm in each of the NYC boroughs to have service back by 11 p.m. Sunday and the vast majority in Westchester to be restored by 11 p.m. Monday. The company will continue to work around the clock to restore the remaining customers.

The storm caused more than 300,000 customers to lose service. Tremendous damage from toppled trees and limbs required a infrastructure rebuild in many instances, destroying transformers and snapping poles.

Con Edison has 1,700 of its own employees and an additional 1,300 contractors and mutual aid workers assisting with restoration.

The company continues to receive reports of downed wires. The company assures the public that it is sending crews to these locations. Con Edison cautions everyone to stay away from downed wires. Do not assume they are de-energized. They may be live.

The company is keeping its customers informed during the process. Nearly 200,000 customers reported their outages, including 85 percent who utilized text, the web, or a voice response system. Con Edison has sent more than 1.5 million texts and phone messages to customers to update them on outage restoration efforts. Ninety percent of customers who lost power have been contacted with individual restoration times.

Con Edison is making daily outbound calls to customers who are on emergency equipment for health reasons. More than 800,000 outbound calls to these customers were made during the event.

Con Edison also is leveraging technology with a new damage assessment app allowing field workers to make detailed reports on conditions and request needed materials. Smart meter data also has been utilized to communicate more effectively and streamline operations.

Customers are urged to report an outage and check restoration status at conEd.com/reportoutage, or with Con Edison’s mobile app for iOS or Android devices, or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).

Customers can sign up for text alerts at conEd.com/text. The messages remind customers to be prepared and to report an outage by simply replying OUT to the text.

Customers who report outages will receive updates from Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available. Information on outages and restoration times is also available at the Con Edison outage map.

Con Edison personnel practice social distancing to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. Con Edison is following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Con Edison offers the following storm tips: ;

  • Do not go near downed wires. Treat downed wires as if they are live. Never touch them with your hands or any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by tree limbs, leaves or water.
  • Report all 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 flashlights and any battery-operated radios or televisions are in working order. Make sure you have a supply of extra batteries. Weather updates and news on restorations of electrical service can be heard on most local radio and television stations.
  • For more storm tips and preparation, go to www.conEd.com 

Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or like us on Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information. In addition, the company is in close contact with New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm response if needed.