For Immediate Release: September 19, 2001
Customers Requested To Limit Their Use Of Power
NEW YORK – Con Edison announced today the restoration of electrical service to its Cortlandt network at 3:51 a.m., returning service to all networks in lower Manhattan that lost power because of last Tuesday’s terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. The company is urging customers whose power has been restored to minimize the use of electricity while work continues in the area.
The Cortlandt network, which serves approximately 1,800 customers, is bounded by Barclay Street to the north, Broadway to the east, West Street to the west, and down to the southern tip of Manhattan. Yesterday, the company began restoring electric service to Battery Park City.
While all networks affected by the attack are energized, individual buildings may be without power until the company can gain access to them to turn on electrical connections. For safety reasons, access to some areas where electric service has been restored may still be restricted and customers should contact local authorities before attempting to return to their homes or businesses.
More than 1,900 Con Edison workers have labored around the clock to restore power in lower Manhattan and thousands more have worked behind the scenes. More than 33 miles of high-voltage cable were laid around the damage zone, on the streets and in trenches dug to shield the wires.
The company cut and isolated damaged electrical cables buried beneath debris-clogged streets. Transmission lines from the two substations that were destroyed by the collapse of a building in the World Trade Center complex were cut and isolated from the transmission system.
Temporary generators are providing power to some buildings. In some cases, the generator cannot handle the entire building load so building personnel have disconnected electrical service to some of their tenants. Con Edison advises its customers NOT to attempt to hook up their own generator, but to call a licensed electrician.
The extensive destruction in the World Trade Center area has interrupted service to the majority of the telephone lines for callers to Con Edison. In the interim, the company is asking customers with billing or customer-service inquiries to call back when phone service is fully restored in order to keep the lines free for callers trying to report emergencies. Callers who receive a busy signal should continue calling until they are connected.
The company has added an additional phone line for customers: 212-243-1900. The regular line, 800-75-CONED, is working, but customers may experience delays.
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Con Edison Media Relations
Contact: Michael Clendenin
Telephone: (212) 460-4111