Oct 8, 2020
Central Hudson Crews Work to Restore Outages After Damaging Storms

Central Hudson Gas & Electric line crews have made significant progress in restoring power to homes and businesses that experienced service interruptions because of the damaging thunderstorms and wind gusts that ripped through the region on Wednesday evening. The storms impacted more than 26,000 customers. As of 8:00 a.m., approximately 9,450 customers were without power, the majority of them located in Greene, Ulster and Albany Counties:

  • Albany County: 1,110
  • Greene County: 5,659
  • Ulster County: 1,852

“I’m pleased with the progress our crews have made working over night to restore electricity as safely and efficiently as possible,” Charles A. Freni, President and CEO of Central Hudson said. “An additional 25 mutual aid linemen from Long Island are expected to arrive by noon today, and in total more than 375 line and tree personnel will be working to clear roads and repair damage.  With their help we expect to have service restored to the vast majority of our customers on Thursday, however some isolated cases will not be restored until tomorrow due to the nature of the work necessary to restore service.”

Severe storms brought wind gusts of over 60 mph that brought down limbs and caused power outages throughout the Central Service territory and beyond.  These storms and damaging winds caused more than 500,000 outages across New York and New England on Wednesday night.

“We thank our customers for their patience and understanding while our crews work to repair damages and remind them to exercise an abundance of caution when dealing with downed tree limbs or power lines,” Freni said.

Freni urged customers to keep safety in mind, particularly during power interruptions:

  • Stay at least 30 feet away from downed power lines and remember that lines may be entangled and hidden in fallen trees. Assume all downed lines are live;
  • Never use outdoor gas or charcoal grills indoors, as they pose a fire hazard and over time can give off carbon monoxide gas;
  • Beware of fallen trees and limbs, and use caution or traveling;
  • Avoid the use of candles for illumination due to fire hazards;
  • Follow the manufacturer’s safety instructions on the use of emergency generators, and be sure to shut off the main breaker when in use and operate the units outdoors;
  • Operate cars and motor vehicles outdoors only, and never inside the garage; and
  • Avoid travel along roadways as hazardous conditions may cause driving accidents, including those involving utility poles which may cause power interruptions.

Customers can stay informed of storm and restoration conditions in the following ways:

  • By text messaging: Customers should enroll in Central Hudson’s Texting Program to use text messaging to report their power condition and to obtain repair status. To enroll, visit CentralHudson.com/Alerts or text REG to 236483;
  • On the Web: Visit CentralHudson.com/Storms to report outages and obtain restoration updates;
  • Via smart phones: A mobile version of the Central Hudson’s website can be accessed by web-enabled cell phones and mobile devices at https://mobile.CenHud.com. Free Central Hudson mobile applications for Android and Apple and are also available by logging onto com/mobileapp;
  • Through social media: “Like” Central Hudson on Facebook (Facebook.com/CentralHudson) and “Follow” on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/CentralHudson); and
  • By phone: Call the Central Hudson PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or 1-800-527-2714, and please use the automated system to report or monitor your power condition.

More information on preparing for storms and emergencies and communicating with Central Hudson is available at www.CentralHudson.com; for information regarding electric and natural gas safety, visit www.CentralHudson.com/Safety.