Con Edison Crews Continue Restoration Following Devastation of Isaias

Con Edison crews today continued relentlessly restoring electricity in New York City and Westchester County, bringing the number of customers back in service to more than 190,000.

The work, which is taking place on the streets and in aerial buckets in the region’s neighborhoods, will continue around the clock until all the approximately 300,000 customers affected by storm Isaias are back in service.

“We realize it is incredibly frustrating to be without power and that is why we are working around the clock to get customers back in service,” said Robert Schimmenti, Con Edison’s senior vice president, Electric Operations. “We have additional mutual aid and contractor workers arriving each day to help us restore service safely. We assure our customers that our crews will remain on the job 24-7 until everyone has their power back.”

Con Edison has more than 1,500 of its own field workers on the job and is currently getting help from 670 mutual aid and contractor workers. Another 460 are scheduled to arrive by the weekend. The company is getting help from as far away as Texas, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin. Some are arriving by plane.

Much work remains, as Con Edison continues to work with public works crews to clear hundreds of roads blocked by fallen trees. Clearing roads is an essential first step to restoration, which also involves replacing poles, wires and transformers.

Con Edison plans to finish restoring power to the vast majority of those affected by Sunday night. Remaining customers will get service early next week.

Many customers will get power back before Sunday night and power has already been restored to more than half of all impacted customers, thanks to the enormity of the workforce assigned to the job and the around-the-clock schedule.

Customers are urged to report their outage to 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).

Con Edison cautions everyone to stay away from downed wires. Do not assume they are de-energized. They may be live.

Crews have restored power to more than 58,000 Westchester County customers reported out since Tuesday and are working on the remaining 75,000 customers. In Queens, more than 43,000 customers have gotten service back with about 30,000 still out. In Brooklyn, crews have restored about 27,500 customers since Tuesday with about 3,300 remaining out and in Staten Island, the company has restored more than 47,000 customers with about 11,000 still out. In the Bronx, crews have restored more than 16,000 customers and about 16,000 are out of service.

Con Edison sent text messages to 1.3 million customers in all its service areas except Manhattan, where the electric system is totally underground. The messages remind customers to be prepared and to report an outage by simply replying OUT to the text. Customers can sign up for text alerts at conEd.com/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.