Wednesday’s winter storm, the second in five days, brought a foot or more of heavy snow throughout the region, weighing down trees and breaking limbs onto power lines. Repair crews of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. worked throughout the storm to repair damage and restore power to more than 22,000 customers. Restoration was complicated by storm conditions and visibility, according to Central Hudson.
As of 7 a.m. on Thursday, 40,000 customers remained without electric service, primarily in Ulster and Dutchess counties, and more than 650 damage locations were reported. Throughout the Northeast, more than one million of outages were reported by utility companies as a result of the storm.
Central Hudson is being assisted in these restoration efforts by mutual aid crews, all of which were retained after arriving earlier to repair damage caused by Friday’s nor’easter. “In all, a field force of 550 electric line and tree trimming workers will be repairing storm damage and restoring electric service today,” said Charles A. Freni, senior vice president of Customer Services and Transmission & Distribution Operations. He said that during system emergencies like this, all employees from throughout Central Hudson are involved in restoration or support activities, and additional support is being provided by hundreds of Central Hudson staff.
“The damage resulting from this storm is significant, and we anticipate that restoration will likely require several days,” said Freni. “Fortunately, we were able to retain mutual aid forces that provided assistance during the last storm, which will help to expedite repairs and shorten the duration of outages.” He said estimated restoration times for customer outages will be developed based upon crew and damage assessment team reports as soon as possible.
Customers are urged to report their power condition and to stay informed of storm and restoration status in the following ways:
· By text messaging: Customers should enroll in Central Hudson’s Texting Program to use text messaging to report their power condition and to obtain repair status. To enroll, visitCentralHudson.com/Alerts or text REG to 236483;
· On the Web: Visit CentralHudson.com/Storms to report outages and obtain restoration updates;
· Via smart phones: A mobile version of the Central Hudson’s website can be accessed by web-enabled cell phones and mobile devices at https://mobile.CenHud.com. Free Central Hudson mobile applications for Android and Apple and are also available by logging onto CentralHudson.com/mobileapp;
· Through Social Media: “Like” Central Hudson on Facebook (com/ CentralHudson) and “Follow” on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/CentralHudson ); and
· By Phone: Call the Central Hudson PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or 1-800-527-2714, and please use the automated system to report or monitor your power condition.
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