More Crews From O&R, Con Ed Join Hurricane Relief Efforts

O & R: A second battalion of electric power line restoration workers and support personnel from Con Edison and Orange & Rockland Utilities departed New York this morning to join the massive power restoration efforts underway in Florida

Approximately 54 electric line workers and other support personnel left New York this morning, and will meet up with 85 other Con Edison and O&R personnel who arrived in the Tampa, FL area late last night.

In addition to company forces, both companies released about 160 private contractors specializing in overhead electrical work and tree clearance to assist in the efforts. They are all part of a national mutual assistance recovery effort involving over 60,000 utility workers.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $49 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through its two regulated utility subsidiaries, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., and Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., and its two unregulated energy businesses.

These eight O&R workers will be joining another larger group simultaneously dispatched from Con Edison today. When they arrive in Florida, they will be assigned a work location by Duke Energy.

Approximately 6 million electric customers in Florida experienced power outages as a result of Irma’s destruction

Today’s O&R-Con Edison convoy is in addition to 16 O&R employees, including overhead electric line technicians and heavy equipment operators, supervision and support personnel, who were dispatched Sunday to join a larger hurricane-relief column from Con Edison.

The O&R-Con Edison units sent Sunday arrived at the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) reception center last night.

Once it is safe to work, those combined forces will conduct joint operations to restore the electric service and rebuild the electric system for TECO customers in Plant City, just east of Tampa. The O&R crews are prepared for a two-week deployment in Florida.

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.

Image Courtesy of O & R