O&R Works to Return Service to 253 Knocked Out by Storm; Nearly Another 450 Restored to Power Overnight

Orange & Rockland (O&R) company overhead line crews and tree removal experts worked through the night last night to restore power to almost 450 of the approximately 700 customers whose power was knocked out by strong, gusty winds that continue today to pummel the region.

Work continues today to restore electricity to the remaining 253 customers who are without service.

Be Safe – Don’t go near downed wires

O&R urges its customers to stay clear of downed electric wires. Don’t go near any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free at 1-877-434-4100. If the situation requires urgent action, call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.

The following video describes the typical storm repair and power restoration process:

Outage Numbers

Here are the current outage numbers by county, and the top three communities with outages at this hour in those counties as of 6:30 am today. For the latest outage numbers, please refer to our outage map at oru.com.

New York 122

Rockland County
10 Ramapo -- 5
Pomona -- 3
New Hempstead --2

Deerpark -- 23
Goshen – 4
Chester -- 1

Sullivan County 82
Mamakating -- 82

New Jersey 131

Bergen County 52
Ramsey -- 49
Mahwah – 2
Montvale -- 1

Passaic County 79
Ringwood 79
Sussex County: 0

How to report an outage

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on by:

• Visiting www.oru.com/ReportOutage from any computer or web-based mobile device
• Accessing O&R’s mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device – download via Apple Store or Google Play
• Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU)
• Calling 1-877-434-4100

Safety

O&R offers the following storm tips to help customers stay safe and weather the possible effects of a storm:

• Report all downed wires to O&R at 1-877-434-4100 and your local police department to divert traffic until O&R crews arrive. If a power line falls on your car while you’re in it, stay inside the vehicle and wait for emergency personnel.
• 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.
• 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.

In addition, O&R personnel have been instructed to ensure all safety protocols when responding to emergency calls to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. O&R asks members of the public to maintain appropriate social distance when they encounter O&R employees working in the field, to provide for mutual safety.

About Orange & Rockland

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.

O&R serves the following communities in New York: Airmont, Bloomingburg, Blooming Grove, Chester Town, Chester Village, Chestnut Ridge, Clarkstown, Crawford, Deerpark, Florida, Forestburgh, Goshen Town, Goshen Village, Grand View, Greenwood Lake, Greenville, Harriman, Haverstraw Town, Haverstraw Village, Highland Falls, Highlands, Hillburn, Kaser, Kiryas Joel, Lumberland, Mamakating, Middletown, Minisink, Monroe Town, Monroe Village, Montebello, Mount Hope, New Hempstead, New Square, Nyack, Orangetown, Otisville, Palm Tree, Piermont, Pomona, Port Jervis, Ramapo, Sloatsburg, South Blooming Grove, South Nyack, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern, Tuxedo Town, Tuxedo Park, Unionville, Upper Nyack, Wesley Hills, Wallkill, Warwick Town, Warwick Village, Washingtonville, Wawayanda, West Haverstraw, Woodbury, Woodbury Village, Wurtsboro.

O&R, as Rockland Electric Company, serves the following communities in New Jersey: Allendale, Alpine, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Franklin Lakes, Harrington Park, Mahwah, Haworth (part), Montague, Montvale, Northvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan (part), Ramsey, Ringwood, Rivervale (part), Rockleigh, Saddle River (part), Upper Saddle River, Wantage (part), Vernon (part), West Milford (part), Wyckoff (part).