The utility reports that as of 4 p.m. Thursday, about 23,000 of its customers – 18,343 of them Ulster County residents – are still without power.
Central Hudson says the outages represent approximately 730 remaining repair assignments, some which may take an hour to complete, others of which take in a day or two; some of which will restore service to 100 customers, others of which may restore service to five customers. “That is the nature of our work at this point in a significant restoration campaign. It’s time consuming and labor intensive, and that is frustrating for all of us,” said Central Hudson President James P. Laurito. “What’s most important is that we continue to make good progress and to restore electricity for customers safely.”
Central Hudson estimates that it must still repair more than 130 broken poles, and still has as many as 650 sections of wire that need to be replaced. It is marshaling today a field force of more than 400 professionals, including 110 Central Hudson line workers, 87 mutual aid/contract line personnel, 132 line clearance contractors, 56 damage assessors and 40 service line workers, all of whom are complemented by logistical, transportation, safety and support staff. Every Central Hudson employee has been reassigned to some facet of storm duty, said Laurito.
“This small army is executing a full-court press on communities where damage was felt the most. Two developments today improved the outlook for our continued steady progress: 1) more mutual aid and contract resources are becoming available to aid in the restoration effort and 2) flooding is receding and roadways are progressively beginning to reopen in the highest-impact areas,” Laurito said. “That’s good news for all of us.”
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