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Con Edison Crews Restoring Service Following Rain and Windstorms

  • Media Relations

  • New York – November 30, 2022 -- 10:15 PM

Company Urges Customers to Stay Safe and Avoid Downed Wires

Con Edison has restored electric service to 9,200 customers affected by the rain and windstorms that hit the area this afternoon and evening.

Queens, where the number of outages reached nearly 7,300 late this afternoon, was the area hit the hardest.

Crews are working to restore service to 5,900 New York City and Westchester County customers who are still out.

Most of the Queens customers who lost service were in the Whitestone, Flushing, Elmhurst and Middle Village areas.

The company restored 925 outages in the Whitestone area that occurred at 3:40 p.m. The outages, which were due to wires down and defective equipment, were restored by 7:04 p.m. via remote switching.

In Flushing, 1,136 customers who lost service just before 4 p.m. due to downed wires were restored by 7 p.m. via remote switching.

More than 5,100 customers were affected in the Middle Village and Elmhurst areas just before 6 p.m. Crews are working to restore those customers and Con Edison expects to have them back in service later tonight.

Crews have restored service to 6,400 customers in Westchester County and are working to restore 700. Sleepy Hollow, North Castle and Yonkers were among the areas that were hardest hit. The restoration of all customers in the county is expected to take until Thursday.

The storms brought down power lines, causing customers to lose service. Con Edison urges members of the public to stay away from downed wires, as they may be live.

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

If you see downed wires, report them to your local police department or Con Edison by calling 1-800-75-CONED. Do not touch downed wires with your hands or any object.

How to Report an Outage

Customers can 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).

When reporting an outage, have your Con Edison account number available, if possible. 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.

Restoration Plan

The priority for restoration is 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 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.

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 snow, 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.
  • Exercise extreme caution when entering flooded basements. Water that comes into contact with energized electrical equipment can create dangerous conditions and cause serious injury.
  • 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 like us 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 New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm response.