44°
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. – More than half of New Castle is still without power 10 days after Hurricane Sandy, and Supervisor Susan Carpenter said if there is an end in sight, Con Edison is keeping town officials in the dark about it.
“We cannot get information from Con Ed about where those restoration crews are,” she said during a Tuesday press conference. “I know it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to us; it’s frustrating to me personally. I would love to know when my power’s coming back on.”
An estimated 3,341 out of 6,574 customers in New Castle were without power as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to Con Edison reports.
County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz (D-Somers) shared Carpenter’s frustration over the lack of progress in town with outages and blocked roads.
“The governor a few days ago called NYSEG, the power company just to our north, the worst-performing utility in the state,” he said. “If in fact that’s the case, then Con Edison has to be even worse because we have far more outages, far more roads blocked. “
Kaplowitz said residents and officials have been patient and kind in the aftermath of the storm, but said it might be time to stop being patient with Con Ed.
“You’re fed up and you want your power back so you can go back to your normal life. We get it. We’re with you,” Kaplowitz said. “We’re going to do everything we possibly can to make that happen. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of Con Edison, and we are at the mercy of a system that was once again reactive and proactive.”
Carpenter said that with a potential nor’easter bringing heavy winds, snow, and rain to the area Wednesday, already hard-hit New Castle might have an even longer recovery period.
“This is not good news,“ said Carpenter, who estimated more than 30 roads in town are still blocked. “[Con Ed] already told us if it’s not safe, their workers will not be working [Wednesday]. All I can tell you is, we continue to try and get information from Con Ed and give it to you as quickly as we can.”
Allan Drury, public affairs manager for Con Ed, said, "We understand the frustration and that's why we're working as hard as we are."
Drury added that Sandy knocked out power to about 1 million customers while last year's Tropical Storm Irene knocked out about 200,000. Con Ed has already restored about 900,000 outages so far, Drury said, and compared it to restoring four Irenes in one week.
"We are working around the clock to restore everyone, and we will."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Chappaqua and receive free news updates.
