Central Hudson Crews Providing Mutual Aid Assistance

Crews assisting in restoration efforts in upstate New York and Ohio in wake of severe wind storms

Central Hudson crews are assisting in electric restoration efforts in areas of the Northeast still affected by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ike last weekend. Crews and support staff worked in the upstate New York regions near Geneva and Auburn this week, assisting New York State Electric and Gas in restoring electric service to the 40,000 residents affected by the storms. After having completed their repair work in upstate New York on Wednesday, these crews are being sent to Cleveland, Ohio, to assist the utility First Energy in restoring service to the more than 300,000 residents still without power in that state.

“Just as we have relied on utility crews from other regions in restoring electric service to our customers in the wake of devastating storms, Central Hudson reciprocates when called to assist other regions,” said Charles A. Freni, Senior Vice President of Customer Services. “This mutual aid is coordinated by a regional council, and we release crews only after we are confident that the needs of our own customers can be met first,” he said. “Fortunately, these storms missed our area, and we’re able to provide the assistance so badly needed in other areas.”

Several states in the Northeast reported widespread outages as a result of heavy winds in the region last weekend, affecting nearly 200,000 customers in upstate New York, 2 million in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

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