Con Edison Crews Mobilizing For Tuesday Morning Snow And Windstorm

Con Edison is activating 250 mutual aid workers to augment company crews in restoring any outages Storm Lorraine may cause with its forecasted heavy, wet snow and strong winds.

The crews are scheduled to arrive tonight, in time for the start of rain, which will change to snow in some parts of Con Edison’s service area.

The snow and winds can cause trees and branches to fall onto power lines and bring those lines down, causing customers to lose service and creating a safety hazard.

The company urges members of the public to stay safe. Stay away from downed wires. They may be live.

In addition, the melting snow can carry road salt into manholes. The salty water makes contact with underground electric delivery cables, possibly causing service problems for customers served by the underground system.

The rain may also cause coastal flooding. In the event of major flooding, the company would have to wait for flood waters to recede before workers enter some facilities to assess damage.

To ensure public safety, Con Edison may guard downed wires until crews make repairs. Company 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.

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, with Con Edison’s mobile app for iOS or Android devices, or by calling 1-800-752-6633.

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.

Text messages and e-mails will be sent to customers in areas forecasted to be hardest hit by this storm.

Safety Tips

• Do not go near downed wires. Treat downed wires as if they are 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 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.
• Exercise extreme caution when entering flooded basements. Water that comes into contact with energized electrical equipment can create dangerous conditions and cause serious injury.
• Members of the public should also 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 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.
• Make sure your flashlights and any battery-operated radios 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 and 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 if needed.