By Jennifer Smith
As of Monday, the snow from the blizzard bearing down on the
northeastern U.S. was forecast to be light and fluffy in New York,
which could help limit power outages, said Philip O'Brien, a
spokesman for Consolidated Edison Inc.
High winds could still topple trees, bringing down elevated
power lines. While the electrical system is underground throughout
Manhattan, power lines are aboveground in nearly all of Westchester
County, which is north of New York City; Staten Island; and in
parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, according to the utility,
which supplies electricity to 3.3 million customers in New York
City and Westchester County.
"If you see a downed wire, don't go anywhere near it, and call
the police," Mr. O'Brien said.
Residents should have batteries on hand and make sure to have
their devices charged, so they can notify the utility of any
outages. If power does go out, disconnect appliances that would
turn on automatically when service restored to prevent overloading
electric circuits.
Customers can submit information online to http:www.conEd.com or
by calling 1-800-752-6633. Text notifications are also available to
customers who text REG to OUTAGE (688243).
Wednesday, which is forecast to be sunny, could bring fresh
challenges for Con Edison. "The snow melts, and mixes with road
salt, and that's tough underground," potentially damaging buried
wiring, Mr. O'Brien said.
The utility has "all-hands-on-deck-14,000 employees," he said,
and also has secured pledges of mutual aid from power companies and
private contractors. "We have people committed from Chicago and
from way upstate," Mr. O'Brien said.
Write to Jennifer Smith at Jennifer.Smith@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires