Over 2 Million Customers Without Power As Irene Slams Tri-State
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As of 11:28 p.m., more than 2 million customers are without power in the Tri-State area. The breakdown from each utility is as follows:
- Connecticut Light & Power: 651,282
- LIPA: 419,538
- PSE&G: 312,000
- JCP&L: 420,000
- Con Edison: 122,987
- Orange & Rockland Utilities: 59,033
A Con Edison official said it shouldn't take past Tuesday evening to restore power to the vast majority of its customers who lost it in Tropical Storm Irene. And he says it's a great relief that the storm ultimately didn't force the utility to cut power to New York's financial center for the first time in recent memory.
Con Ed Vice President John Miksad said Sunday that 850 additional workers from as far away as Colorado and Texas will help fix downed power lines in the city and northern suburbs.
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On Saturday as Irene approached, Con Ed said it could have turned off power to thousands of lower Manhattan residents if needed to protect underground lines from flood waters, but the utility never had to take that action.
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In New Jersey, Paul Rosengren of PSE&G, spoke with 1010 WINS and said that it may take additional time for the utility to fully restore power to everyone.
"The real question in restoration is the water. We cannot get restarted on restoring electricity in some areas until water recedes," he said. "In some cases, we have multiple substations in the same relative area that are flooded. Those people may be out for a couple days."
A spokesperson for JCP&L said the utility was also going through the process of assessing damage and trying to get power back to its customers.
"We have had some severe flooding in our areas. In addition to that, we've also had a lot of debris down that has blocked roads, it has prevented us from getting in to make some repairs and to even getting in to analyze and assess where the damage is," spokesperson Mark Durbin said.
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