SHARE

Con Ed: Repairs Could Cause Outages In Briarcliff

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. – Residents in the Village of Briarcliff Manor can expect some sporadic and temporary power outages the next several weeks as Con Edison works to make permanent repairs after Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter.

Con Edison representatives said Briarcliff Manor residents could experience short outages while workers make permanent repairs following the damage done by Hurricane Sandy.

Con Edison representatives said Briarcliff Manor residents could experience short outages while workers make permanent repairs following the damage done by Hurricane Sandy.

Photo Credit: Flickr user dandeluca

In order to restore services faster after Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter hit the area last month, Con Edison representatives said crews made emergency repairs to areas all across Westchester County. The emergency repairs were temporary, however, and would not be enough to withstand further damage during the winter, Con Edison officials said Tuesday. While thousands of residents in Briarcliff Manor and Ossining were without power for days following Sandy, Con Edison officials said the new repairs would mean much shorter and smaller outages in the next few weeks.

“These permanent repairs will be like changing a battery on a car,” said Chris Olert, Con Edison spokesperson. “You take off one terminal and it knocks out a system for a little while and you put it back and power is restored. So people shouldn't be without power for more than a couple of hours at most.”

Olert said the new repairs would be “permanent.”

“The object during Sandy was to get everybody’s electricity restored. And in order to do that, in some neighborhoods and areas we had to put in shunts,” Olert said, explaining that shunts were devices that allowed workers to connect severed wires quickly. “Those are temporary though and they’re not doing much but connecting wires that were broken. So, crews need to go in and reconnect those lines permanently.”

Village Manager Philip Zegarelli said in his weekly update the process could take “several weeks.”

“Many of the more devastated areas were only temporarily repaired in order to restore power sooner,” Zegarelli wrote in his update. “Con Ed was awaiting additional supplies and time intervals to make the temporary repairs more permanent with the ability to replace deteriorating poles or other equipment. This information is being passed on to you since it should be assumed that as work is done in the upgrades and replacement, there will be periodic power outages for hours during the day.”

to follow Daily Voice Briarcliff and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE