NYSEG Releases Daily Restoration Plan to Restore Customers - 7:00 am

Company works to improve restoration targets

BINGHAMTON, New York — August 8, 2020, 7:00 a.m. — NYSEG, a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc., released its daily restoration plan for work that will be completed on Saturday. The plan includes an overview of the restoration activities as well as the company’s shift to a decentralized response to place emphasis on increased communications with municipalities and customers, in addition to a more localized operational response. NYSEG continues to obtain and onboard additional resources from throughout the country. Currently, approximately 20,000 customers out of the total 124,361 customers impacted are without power in the company’s Brewster division, which includes Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester counties. While the company previously announced that it expects to restore 95% of customers by 11 p.m. on Monday, NYSEG is working hard to improve its restoration targets and restore power sooner.

Details of Saturday’s work plan include:

Decentralized Approach: Recognizing the challenges of communications and operations given the widespread devastation, the company will move to a decentralized operation. As a result, the company will be better positioned to provide increased communications with local municipalities and customers. As part of the decentralized structure, the company will run hyper-localized operations in each county within the service division. While a centralized operation was beneficial at the start of the event and as crews restored the backbones of the system, decentralizing for the remaining operation will allow for better collaboration of operations and communications.

Restoration Work: Due in part to the massive field presence that the company has built, NYSEG has assigned restoration crews to all remaining circuits. In many cases, some circuits may have multiple crews. To ensure operational efficiency, the company has also planned for “runners” to collect information from crews at multiple points throughout the day so that the company can closely analyze completed and ongoing work, and make tactical changes if necessary.

In addition to restoration crews, the company plans to dispatch service crews to fix and connect downed service wires that connect customers’ homes to the circuit. Typically, this task is left until the end of a restoration effort. However, the company is proactively working to complete these restorations in parallel to the larger distribution restoration to help improve overall restoration times.

The most significant hurdle that the company will work to overcome today is the large amount of broken poles. While crews worked throughout the overnight period to set poles in locations that will allow more efficient restorations today, a significant number of poles remain. Some are located in more remote areas that suffered devastating damage. However, as part of the work plan for today, the company has included an aggressive pole setting operation that should be able to set more than 150 poles today.

While the company will have crews on every remaining circuit, the company reiterated that repairs in many pockets of the service area will take significant time. Due to the extensive damage sustained as a result of the storm, some areas of the system require a complete rebuild of the network, while others remain heavily damaged.

Critical Facilities and Municipal Priorities: Any remaining critical facilities that have not already been restored will be completed today. The company has also created a “strike force” team to respond to municipal emergencies that may arise throughout the day, ensuring that restoration crews can focus on the work at hand, while any municipal emergencies are responded to.

Crew Information: NYSEG will supply the Town of Bedford three make safe crews today. All other municipalities have released their assigned crews back to the company. As noted earlier, the company will assign restoration crews to every remaining circuit, with many having multiple crews assigned to it.

COVID-19: Recognizing that many residents are currently home due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, for everyone’s safety, the company asks customers to observe a six-foot social distance if they must be near workers and always remain outside the work zone. Allowing crews to remain uninterrupted and focused on their work enables workers to determine damage and make repairs more quickly and safely.

NYSEG will continue to provide updates throughout the event to the public on the company’s social media channels (Facebook and Twitter). The company also offers customers the following reminders to prepare for the storm and stay safe if power outages do occur.

Outage Information:

  • Sign up for Outage Alerts to receive updates automatically by phone, text, or e-mail as the company updates the status of the restoration process in their area. Customers can sign up for outage alerts by visiting here for NYSEG.
  • Customers can use the new NYSEG mobile app to report and check the status of outages. To download the application, customers should search “AVANGRID” in the Apple or Android app stores and select “NYSEG.” The application is free to download. 

Stay Away From Downed Wires:

  • Stay at least 30 feet from a downed power line.
  • If a downed wire comes in contact with your vehicle, stay inside and wait for help. If you must get out because of fire or other danger, jump clear of the vehicle to avoid any contact with the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Land with your feet together and hop with feet together or shuffle away; don’t run or stride.
  • NYSEG customers should call 1.800.572.1131 to report downed power lines or other hazardous situations.

During a Power Interruption:

  • Contact neighbors to see if their power is off. A loss of power may be the result of a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker.
  • To report a power interruption, contact NYSEG at 1.800.572.1131.
  • Keep refrigerators and freezers closed as much as possible. Most food will last 24 hours if you minimize the opening of refrigerator and freezer doors.

Power Restoration Priorities:

The company’s first priority is to respond to reports of downed power lines to keep the public safe.  NYSEG customers are asked to call 1.800.572.1131 to report downed wires. Once this vital public safety work is complete, the company will:

• Assess the damage to the electricity delivery system.
• Develop a detailed restoration plan.
• Make repairs as quickly as possible.

For additional information, including storm preparation tips, storm safety information, generator safety information, restoration priorities and emergency resources, visit Outage Central at NYSEG.com and on the company’s social media pages:

  • Facebook: @NYSEandG
  • Twitter: @NYSEandG

Learn about the Iberdrola Group’s global pandemic response at its COVID-19 Hub.

 


 

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