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Power Returning After Outages That Hit 50,000, Mostly in Brooklyn Power Returning After Outages That Hit 50,000, Mostly in Brooklyn
(about 1 hour later)
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Nearly 12,000 customers were still without electricity in New York City and Westchester County on Monday afternoon, after 50,000 Con Edison customers lost power on Sunday night during an intense three-day heat wave, officials said. New Yorkers woke up on Monday with a kind of collective heat hangover, drained yet relieved to have a break from a sweltering three-day heat wave.
The utility initially said it expected service to be fully restored in the afternoon, however Con Edison’s online outage map estimated that some customers would not get their power back until late Monday evening, a full day after the company shut off power to 30,000 customers in southeast Brooklyn so it could make repairs related to the dangerously high temperatures. But as the region cooled off, frustration remained for some of the thousands of Con Edison customers who remained without electricity after power failures on Sunday in the city and in Westchester County.
It was mostly customers in Brooklyn who were still without power on Monday, officials said. Of the more than three million customers that Con Edison serves in the region, 900,000 of them are in the borough. Those left without electricity the next morning initially included about half of the 30,000 customers in southeast Brooklyn whose power was intentionally cut off by Con Edison so that the company could prevent a larger shutdown, officials said.
As of 3 p.m., just under 10,000 Brooklyn customers — most of them in and around the neighborhoods of Canarsie, Mill Basin, Flatlands and Bergen Beach — were still without electricity. Just under 2,000 customers in Queens were also facing service disruptions. The backlash against the utility’s decision was so strong that it even elicited a striking moment of unity between Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, two Democrats who have often been at odds on high-profile issues.
The region had cooled by Monday, as residents across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut woke up in a kind of collective heat hangover.
The thermometer fell to 80 degrees in New York City overnight, and the National Weather Service predicted temperatures would not rise much above the low 80s on Monday, though it warned of possible severe thunderstorms.
Still, even as the heat broke, Mayor Bill de Blasio lashed out against Con Edison during a news conference on Monday, demanding answers and saying he no longer trusted the utility.
“This was obviously a predictable situation, and therefore, preventable,” Mr. de Blasio said, standing outside a command post in Brooklyn that had been set up to aid people affected by the power shutdowns. “What we’re getting continually is no clarity, no answers, no real timelines from Con Ed.”
City officials worked with the Red Cross to set up an emergency shelter at J.H.S. 278 Marine Park in Brooklyn for people who needed medical attention or relief from the heat, Mr. de Blasio said. That shelter remained open Monday morning
Con Edison officials said they had faced a catch-22: If the utility had not shut off some power, there could have been a longer failure over a wider area.
“The actions we took were necessary to prevent longer outages to the impacted customers that would have occurred as a result of additional equipment damage,” the company said in a statement on Monday morning.
On Sunday night, Con Edison officials said overhead lines supplying the area were in danger of overloading because of the heat.
But both Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo expressed their frustrations, saying the utility should have been ready for a higher-than-usual power demand given that temperatures had been expected to linger in the mid-90s for three days.
“We have been through this situation with Con Ed time and again, and they should have been better prepared — period,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement on Sunday evening.“We have been through this situation with Con Ed time and again, and they should have been better prepared — period,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement on Sunday evening.
Like much of the country, New York was under an extreme heat advisory during the weekend as a so-called heat dome spread from the central United States toward the Great Lakes and East Coast. “I can’t trust them at this point,” Mr. de Blasio said of Con Edison in a news conference on Monday, “because I’m not getting any real answers and they have let New Yorkers down once again.”
The city was not the only place to be stricken with blackouts during the heat wave. Massive power failures occurred in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, where severe storms and fierce winds brought down power lines. By Monday evening, about 10,000 customers remained without power, nearly all of them in Brooklyn, according to Con Edison.
In southeast Michigan, where temperatures also rose above 90 degrees over the weekend, around 600,000 customers of DTE Energy lost electricity, and about 250,000 were still without power as of Monday morning, the company said. Sunday’s power failure marked the second weekend in a row that parts of the city had been plunged into darkness, amplifying New Yorkers’ indignation.
Strong storms also brought more modest failures in metropolitan Washington, where fewer than 5,000 utility company customers lost power on Sunday night, as the heat wave was ending. The service disruption came at the end of the city’s first heat wave of the year. Like much of the country, the New York region was under an extreme heat advisory over the weekend, as a so-called heat dome spread from the central United States toward the Great Lakes and the East Coast.
In New York, the power shutdown on Sunday marked the second weekend in a row that parts of the city were driven into darkness. The thermometer fell to 80 degrees in New York City overnight, and the National Weather Service predicted cooler temperatures at the start of the week, though it cautioned that temperatures could rise again by the coming weekend.
On July 13, an equipment failure caused a blackout that left more than 70,000 customers on the West Side of Manhattan without electricity for more than three hours. “This was obviously a predictable situation, and therefore, preventable,” Mr. de Blasio said, standing outside a command post in Brooklyn that had been set up to help people affected by the power shutdowns. “What we’re getting continually is no clarity, no answers, no real timelines from Con Ed.”
Both Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio had heaped criticism on Con Edison at the time, with Mr. Cuomo calling for an independent state investigation into the Manhattan blackout. Con Edison officials said they had faced a Catch-22: If the utility had not shut off some power, there could have been a longer failure over a wider geographic area.
“The actions we took were necessary to prevent longer outages to the impacted customers that would have occurred as a result of additional equipment damage,” the company said in a statement on Monday morning.
On Sunday night, Con Edison officials said overhead lines that supply power to the area were in danger of overloading because of the heat.
Already facing some outages and staring at the prospect of more, the utility decided to cut the power to customers in and around the neighborhoods of Canarsie, Mill Basin, Flatlands and Bergen Beach.
Both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Cuomo expressed their frustrations at that decision, saying the utility should have been ready for a higher-than-usual power demand given the ample warnings from meteorologists that temperatures were expected to linger in the mid-90s for three days.
The city, however, was in good company. Massive power failures occurred in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin, where severe storms and fierce winds brought down power lines.
In southeast Michigan, where temperatures also rose above 90 degrees over the weekend, around 600,000 customers of DTE Energy lost electricity, and about 250,000 were still without power on Monday morning, the company said.
But with no storms to blame, the blackout in Brooklyn seemed to sting all the more on the heels of last weekend’s power failures along Manhattan’s West Side and in Midtown.
Last Saturday, an equipment failure unexpectedly left swaths of the West Side of Manhattan into darkness on another warm weekend evening. More than 70,000 customers were without electricity for more than three hours.
Both Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio, who was campaigning last weekend for president in Iowa, had heaped criticism on Con Edison a week ago, with Mr. Cuomo calling for an independent state investigation into the Manhattan blackout.
The governor went so far as to threaten to have the state Public Service Commission revoke Con Edison’s license as the sole distributor of electricity in virtually the entire city and parts of suburban Westchester County.The governor went so far as to threaten to have the state Public Service Commission revoke Con Edison’s license as the sole distributor of electricity in virtually the entire city and parts of suburban Westchester County.
While Sunday’s shutdown affected fewer people, it has taken far longer for Con Edison to restore power. Unsatisfied with the utility’s response, Mr. Cuomo called for state investigators to widen their inquiry to include the latest power failures. While Sunday’s shutdown affected fewer people, it has taken far longer for Con Edison to restore power. Unsatisfied with the utility’s response, Mr. Cuomo called for state investigators to widen their inquiry to include the newer failures.
In a radio interview on Monday, the governor continued to harangue the utility. In a radio interview on Monday, the governor continued to harangue Con Edison.
“They can lose their franchise. We have changed utilities in the past,” Mr. Cuomo said. “It’s not easy but we do a lot of things that aren’t easy and, legally, it’s possible.” “They can lose their franchise. We have changed utilities in the past,” Mr. Cuomo said. “It’s not easy, but we do a lot of things that aren’t easy. And, legally, it’s possible.”
The city’s public advocate, Jumaane D. Williams, who previously represented parts of Brooklyn affected by the power failures on the City Council, said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday morning that he had been told the power would be restored by midnight. The city’s public advocate, Jumaane D. Williams, who previously represented parts of Brooklyn affected by the power failures on the City Council, said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday morning that he had been told, incorrectly, the power would be restored by midnight.
That outages continued on Monday, he said, was a failure on Con Edison’s part.
“There’s still no electricity in many parts,” he said. “This is outrageous. Con Edison, you have so many questions that you need to answer.”“There’s still no electricity in many parts,” he said. “This is outrageous. Con Edison, you have so many questions that you need to answer.”
On Monday, Mr. de Blasio said he felt that Con Edison had not provided a satisfactory explanation for either episode. He called for an investigation into the utility’s structure and practices that would help keep the company more accountable. On Monday, Mr. de Blasio said he felt that Con Edison had not provided a satisfactory explanation for either weekend mishap. He called for an investigation into the utility’s structure and practices that would help keep the company more accountable.
“At this point, I do not have faith in Con Ed,” he said.“At this point, I do not have faith in Con Ed,” he said.
Con Edison did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the criticisms. He suggested that it was time for the city and the state to consider a public agency as a replacement to Con Edison, which is a private company.
Regulators have penalized the company for blackouts in the past. In 2007, the state Public Service Commission hit the company with an $18 million penalty for power failures, including a nine-day blackout in western Queens in 2006. Regulators have penalized Con Edison for blackouts in the past. In 2007, the state Public Service Commission hit the company with an $18 million penalty for power failures, including a nine-day blackout in western Queens in 2006.
Patrick McGeehan contributed reporting.Patrick McGeehan contributed reporting.