Con Edison Crews & Large Contractor Force Restore 91% of Customers Following Storm
Work to Continue Through the Night
Con Edison crews and the largest contractor force the company has ever assembled in advance of a storm have restored service to 91 percent of the approximately 36,000 customers who lost service since the rain and winds began on Christmas Eve.
Work is continuing tonight to restore service to the 3,100 who remain out.
The company expects to restore service by 11 a.m. Saturday to 95 percent of the Westchester customers who lost service. In the Bronx, the crews will achieve 95-percent restoration by 11 tonight. Then workers will remain on the job making repairs that restore small numbers of customers.
Restoration of storm-related outages is complete in Staten Island and expected to be complete by 11 p.m. in Brooklyn and Queens. The company will assign crews to any new outages that occur.
The number of outages by region are: Westchester, 2,600; Bronx, 250; Queens, 108; and Brooklyn, 120.
The powerful winds that gusted up to 70 miles an hour caused trees and branches to fall onto overhead delivery equipment, knocking customers out of service.
The Restoration Process
Con Edison crews supplemented by more than 700 contract workers have replaced poles, wiring and other equipment to get customers back in service.
Many of our crews returned from vacations to work on the restoration.
Crews give priority to restoring service lines that provide power to the most customers, then move on to restoring smaller groups and individual customers who are without power.
The company recommends that customers report their outages. Customers who report outages will receive updates from Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.
For the most up-to-date information on restoration times check the Con Edison outage map.
Bedford and Cortlandt are among the Westchester communities with the largest numbers of outages remaining.
How to Report an Outage
Con Edison sent 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.
Safety
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.
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.
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.
The company is in close contact with New York City Emergency Management and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services to coordinate storm-response as needed.