NYSEG updates power restoration effort

New York State Electric and Gas said Tuesday night that 12,000 customers in its service region remain without power after fierce storms plowed through the area on Monday, March 7.

NYSEG said existing outages remain mostly in the company’s Oneonta division, where 6,800 customers remained without power, and in the Binghamton division, where 4,200 customers remain in the dark.

Based on initial damage assessments, the company said it expects to restore 95 percent of the affected customers by 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9. Smaller pockets of outages in heavily-damaged areas could persist into Thursday, March 10. NYSEG will update its time of restoration map as work proceeds.

NYSEG urges customers to remain away from storm debris, as it may contain downed wires or other damaged equipment. All downed wires should be assumed as energized and be reported by calling NYSEG’s emergency line or contacting 911, and tree removal should be left to professionals.

During the overnight hours the company shifted resources from other locations and continues to bring in fresh resources to assist those working since the event’s impact, including affiliate resources from United Illuminating and Canadian resources to address the areas hardest hit. The company’s storm response team is fully engaged and crews are working continuously to complete damage assessment, make safe, set estimated restoration times and make repairs to restore service to the remaining affected customers. While resources will strive to restore as many remaining customers within the first 24 hours of this event, some locations may remain without power during the overnight tonight.

The company is coordinating response efforts with state and local emergency management authorities.