Con Edison Urges Safety During T-storms, Mobilizes Crews To Restore Power

Con Edison is prepared to respond to any damage to its overhead electric delivery system that occurs tonight as thunderstorms move through parts of the service area.

The company will have 50 mutual aid workers arriving tonight to work on the overhead system if the storm causes outages. Those workers will supplement the Con Edison overhead workers who will be restoring any affected customers.

A storm with heavy winds can knock trees and branches onto overhead lines and cause customers to lose service.

Con Edison urgers members of the public to stay away from downed wires, as they may be live. If you see downed wires, report them to your local police department or by calling 1-800-75-CONED. Do not touch downed wires with your hands or any object.

For your safety, Con Edison workers may guard downed wires until crews make repairs. Our personnel may be in unmarked cars but will always have Con Edison identification.

Restoration Plan

The priority for restoration will be critical customer facilities that have an impact on the public, such as mass transit, hospitals, police and fire stations, and sewage and water-pumping stations. Crews will then prioritize repairs that will provide power to the largest numbers of customers as quickly as possible, then move on to restore smaller groups and individual customers.

Crews continue working around the clock in extreme conditions to restore customers whose service is affected by the heat wave. Since the heat wave began on Sunday, crews have restored service to 33,600 customers. They are working to restore about 3,600, including about 1,700 in Brooklyn.

Information on outages and restoration times is available on the Con Edison outage map.

How to Report an Outage

Customers can sign up for text alerts at coned.com/text. Customers can also report outages and check service 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 who report outages will receive updates from Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available. Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information.

Safety Tips

• If you see downed electrical wires, do not go near them. Report them to Con Edison and your local police department immediately.
• Treat all downed wires as if they are live. Never attempt to move them or touch them with your hands or any object. Be mindful that downed wires can be hidden from view by tree limbs, leaves or water.
• Members of the public also should avoid transformers that are brought to the ground. The transformers are gray metal drums attached to the wires and poles.
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing and using a portable generator. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors, or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
• 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.
• Charge your cellphones and other mobile devices while you have power.
• Check to make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios are in working order. Make sure you have a supply of extra batteries.

Customers can follow Con Edison on Twitter or on Facebook for general outage updates, safety tips and storm preparation information. For more tips on storm preparation, go to www.conEd.com.

The company is in contact with the New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm-response if needed.