03/15/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/15/2023 05:37
Orange & Rockland (O&R) emergency response crews today remain on elevated storm alert status to repair damage and restore power to O&R customers whose electric service could be knocked out by the strong gusty winds that continue to sweep through the region.
For safety's sake, O&R warns the public not to touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also consider calling your local police to divert traffic from the downed wire's location until an O&R crew arrives.
O&R company and contractor overhead line crews and tree removal experts, customer service operators and the other O&R emergency response personnel have been activated and deployed for storm duty since Monday night, as were overhead line mutual aid workers obtained by O&R.
From 7 p.m. Monday night through today, O&R crews have restored electric service to approximately 5,800 customers who temporarily lost power.
Winds are expected to remain gusty. Prevailing winds will range from 15 to 30 mph with gusts from 40 to 50 mph. Winds are due to peak today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winds slowly diminish later in the day today as this storm system exits off the coast.
If you experience a power outage, don't assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:
For the latest information about power outages, please view O&R's Outage Map.
For a brief video that provides a step-by-step guide to the Outage Map's basic operation:
Once the weather clears enough to safely assess damage and begin electric service restoration, O&R crews will give priority to clearing downed wires blocking roads and making repairs to critical and emergency facilities (police and fire stations, and hospitals, for example) and to those locations where the repair will provide power to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. Then, crews will restore smaller outages and individual customers' outages.
Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it's Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.
O&R serves the following communities in New York: Airmont, Bloomingburg, Blooming Grove, Chester Town, Chester Village, Chestnut Ridge, Clarkstown, Crawford, Deerpark, Florida, Forestburgh, Goshen Town, Goshen Village, Grand View, Greenwood Lake, Greenville, Harriman, Haverstraw Town, Haverstraw Village, Highland Falls, Highlands, Hillburn, Kaser, Kiryas Joel, Lumberland, Mamakating, Middletown, Minisink, Monroe Town, Monroe Village, Montebello, Mount Hope, New Hempstead, New Square, Nyack, Orangetown, Otisville, Palm Tree, Piermont, Pomona, Port Jervis, Ramapo, Sloatsburg, South Blooming Grove, South Nyack, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern, Tuxedo Town, Tuxedo Park, Unionville, Upper Nyack, Wesley Hills, Wallkill, Warwick Town, Warwick Village, Washingtonville, Wawayanda, West Haverstraw, Woodbury, Woodbury Village, Wurtsboro.
O&R, as Rockland Electric Company, serves the following communities in New Jersey:
Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Mahwah, Haworth (part), Montague, Montvale, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan (part), Ramsey, Ringwood (part), Rivervale (part), Rockleigh, Saddle River (part), Upper Saddle River, Wantage (part), Vernon (part), West Milford (part), Wyckoff (part).