LIPA’s Ernesto Restoration Completed
Uniondale, NY—September 4, 2006— Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Chairman Richard M. Kessel announced today that all electric service interruptions resulting from Tropical Storm Ernesto have been restored as of noon today.
“I am extremely proud of the remarkable job that LIPA’s management and electric service personnel accomplished this weekend,†said LIPA Chairman Richard M. Kessel. “LIPA responded in force, on Saturday during the height of the storm, restoration crews working 16 hour shifts, restored a remarkable 102,307 customer outages in less than 24 hours. Due to the hard work of these dedicated men and women approximately 86% of all storm related outages were restored in less than four hours.â€
Ernesto’s 57MPH wind gusts and torrential rains caused 127,799 service interruptions throughout Long Island on Saturday and during the early morning ours of Sunday of the Labor Day weekend. The peak number of outages (49,898) occurred at 5 PM on Saturday, with 50% of all customer outages (64,266) occurring between 2PM and 6PM on Saturday. LIPA restoration crews worked throughout the holiday weekend to restore service as quickly as possible. All but a few hundred outages were restored to service before midnight Sunday. The remaining scattered storm-related outages were all restored to service before noon today.
LIPA’s customers are encouraged to visit LIPA’s Storm Center on LIPA’s Web site www.lipower.org. LIPA’s Storm Center features updated weather reports, electric outage information and tips to stay prepared for weather emergencies.
LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric system, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System (T&D) on Long Island and provides electric service to over 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. In terms of customers served, LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal electric utility in the nation and the 6th largest in terms of electricity delivered. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island electric generating assets.
LIPA Contact Information:
Media Relations: (516) 719-9892
Media Pager: (516) 525-LIPA
media.relations@lipower.org
LIPA News Center
http://www.lipower.org/newscenter
LIPA Storm Center
http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter
