Con Edison Crews And Outside Workers Mobilizing With Windy, Soggy Christmas In The Forecast
Company Issues Safety Warning to Customers; 700 Contractor Workers to Help Restore Service
Con Edison workers are prepared to spend their Christmas in the streets restoring power to any customers affected by the storm coming on Thursday night.
The company has secured more than 700 contractor workers to supplement its crews in the arduous work of replacing poles, wires and transformers. The company continues to seek more outside workers.
The company urges members of the public to stay away from downed power lines. Those lines could be live. For your safety, we may be guarding downed wires until crews make repairs. Our personnel may be in unmarked cars, but will always have identification.
The gusting winds can cause trees and branches to fall onto overhead delivery equipment, resulting in customer outages. Rain, combined with the melting snow, can soften the ground, making the trees more wobbly and likely to fall if the winds are strong enough.
In addition, the rain can wash melting snow and salt into manholes, affecting underground electrical wiring and leading to outages. Crews have been restoring customers affected by underground outages since last week’s snowstorm passed.
The driving rain and melting snow will also bring the possibility of flooding, particularly in coastal areas.
How to Report an Outage
Con Edison is sending text messages to customers in the regions expected to be hit the hardest. 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 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. Information on outages and restoration times is also available at the Con Edison outage map.
The Restoration Process
Depending on the severity of storm damage, crews will give priority to restoring service lines that will provide power to the most customers as quickly as possible, then move on to restore smaller groups and individual customers who are without power.
Con Edison personnel continue to practice protocols to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. Con Edison is following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Safety
Con Edison offers the following storm tips to help customers stay safe and weather the possible effects of a storm:
- Do not go near downed electrical 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.
- 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.
- 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 devices while you have power.
- 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.
- Make sure your flashlights, radios and televisions are working. 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.