O&R Restores Power To Most Customers In Rockland, Orange

PEARL RIVER, NY — Orange & Rockland Utilities reports that 8,500 customers who lost power overnight during the destructive rain and wind storm have had their service restored.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, O&R estimates that the vast majority of the remaining 908 customers whose electric service was interrupted by storm damage will return to service by today at 11 p.m.

Here are the outage numbers by county at 1 pm today. For the latest outage numbers, please go to O&R’s Outage Map:

• Orange – 390 (104,690 total served by O&R)
• Sullivan – 41 (8,646 total served by O&R)
• Rockland – 337 (118,105 total served by O&R)
• Bergen – 140 (59,047 served by Rockland Electric Co.)
• Passaic – 0 (13,341 served by Rockland Electric Co.)
• Sussex – 0 (344 served by Rockland Electric Co.)

O&R and contractor overhead line and tree removal crews continue working. Also continuing: high, gusty winds. The National Weather Service has continued a high wind advisory for the region until 6 p.m. Thursday.

O&R expects those continuing winds will affect its service restoration efforts.

Company officials said the smart meters they're now installing are speeding up power restoration. O&R can communicate with those smart meters to determine whether the customer at that location has power or not.

There are several ways customers themselves can report outages and check service restoration status:

• Go to the O&R website from any computer or web-enabled mobile device;
• Use the O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device;
• Text “OUT” to 69678 (myORU); or
• Call Customer Assistance at 1-877-434-4100

And FYI for the next storm, O&R offers these tips:

• For safety’s sake, don’t 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 want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.
• Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.
• If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away, and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
• Pole-top transformers --- those small grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles --- also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the ground. Those transformers, which are used to reduce the voltage of electricity so that it can be used inside buildings, are filled with oil which could be a health and an environmental hazard. Under no circumstance should anyone approach any oil spill and/or any electrical equipment. Individuals should also remain clear of the leaking oil. Do not walk or drive through oil which has spilled onto the ground.
• Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
• Have emergency equipment within reach --- portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Keep O&R’s toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.
• Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.

For more information, visit O&R’s Storm Center at www.oru.com.