Con Edison and O&R Lend Vehicles To Help Neighboring Utility Restore Service to Customers

Utility workers restoring service to Central Hudson Gas & Electric customers affected by this week’s storm borrowed trucks from a new Con Edison/Orange and Rockland Utilities emergency facility in Pomona.

The contractor workers got into 48 overhead line trucks and eight pickup trucks in Pomona and made their way to Central Hudson’s service area.

The contractor workers were flown into New York from Louisiana and Florida by Con Edison and O&R in anticipation of the storm.

But when the late-winter Nor’easter proved to have less impact than predicted, Con Edison and O&R released the workers. Central Hudson, whose service area was hit hard by the storm, then used the workers’ services.

The trucks are part of the large, new fleet at the Con Edison/O&R Mutual Aid Center in Pomona. The companies established the site to store trucks for use by outside workers who are flown into the area.

The pre-staged trucks speed up restoration because the companies can eliminate the wait time created by the contractors driving their own vehicles from distant locations. Contractors from Texas, for example, take three days to drive into New York