By Scott DiSavino and Cezary Podkul
NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) – U.S. power companies said
Wednesday the nor’easter whipping across the Mid-Atlantic
knocked out power to additional homes and businesses and slowed
their efforts to restore service to those left in the dark by
Hurricane Sandy nine days ago.
Utilities from the Carolinas to New England reported that
the nor’easter had knocked out service to at least 22,000
additional customers by Wednesday afternoon, federal data
showed.
Some 650,000 homes and businesses were already without power
Wednesday morning in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West
Virginia due to Sandy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said
in a report.
Now the DOE said 672,000 customers were out in seven states,
adding nor’easter related outages in Connecticut, Massachusetts
and Rhode Island to the ongoing Sandy related outages.
“We had about 15,000 new outages so far due to the
nor’easter,” John Bruckner, President, Long Island Electric
Transmission & Distribution Services for National Grid PLC
, said Wednesday. National Grid operates the electric
system on Long Island for the Long Island Power Authority
(LIPA).
Before the nor’easter struck the region, National Grid and
LIPA had hoped to restore power to about 90 percent of the
customers affected by Sandy who could take power.
“We still have a great chance of making that,” LIPA Chief
Operating Officer Michael Hervey said at the conference.
Hervey and Bruckner however explained that about 100,000
customers, primarily on the South Shore of Long Island, would
have to be inspected for water damage and possibly repaired
before LIPA can turn the lights on because those homes and
businesses were in the zone that suffered from the storm surge.
LIPA said it has already restored power to almost 800,000 of
the more than 1 million homes and businesses knocked out by
Sandy, leaving about 171,000 still waiting to have their power
restored.
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY
The rain, snow and heavy winds from the nor’easter were
causing more headaches for New York and New Jersey towns that
still had outages. Trees slammed into power lines, knocking out
service for some customers who may have already had their power
restored, utilities said.
“The new storm could delay customer restorations. Crews
repairing overhead lines and equipment cannot work in high
winds,” New York power company Consolidated Edison Inc
said Wednesday.
Con Edison said its crews would receive more help on
Wednesday when 300 mutual aid workers arrive, bringing the
company’s restoration workforce to more than 3,000 utility
workers.
In the town of Pelham in Westchester County, next to New
York City, Town Supervisor Peter DiPaola voiced worries about
the impact the storm would have on some residents still lacking
power.
“It’s coming up on ten days with people being freezing in
their homes,” he said. About 42,000 Con Edison customers in
Westchester County remained without power as of Wednesday,
according to the company’s website.
DiPaola said restoration in Pelham was slowed by a shortage
of transformers. But Con Edison, LIPA and the utilities in New
Jersey all denied rumors that they were suffering from a
shortage of poles, wires, transformers or other power equipment.
In New Jersey, power company Public Service Enterprise Group
Inc, which has the most customers still without service,
said it expects to continue restoring power to the remaining
185,000 customers out despite the nor’easter.
While work may continue in the rain, PSEG said federal
safety rules prevent line crews from working in bucket trucks
when winds are greater than 40 miles per hour (64 kph).
There have been reports of wind gusts from the nor’easter at
over 60 mph, according to weather forecaster AccuWeather.com.
If restoration efforts have to stop because of the winds,
PSEG said, “Crews will resume work when it is safe to do so.”
Like other utilities, PSEG said its crews were working
16-hour days, with mandated rest periods and meal breaks. The
New Jersey utility said it had secured an additional 600 line
workers from Pennsylvania, bringing the total to more than 4,600
workers on the ground.
Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on the night of Oct. 29,
affecting about 8.48 million customers in 21 states. Before the
nor’easter hit the New York-New Jersey area, the Department of
Energy said the region’s power companies had restored service to
about 320,000 customers over the prior 24 hours.
