Hudson Valley Utility Company Honored for Response to March Nor’Easters
Think back a few months ago, specifically to March, when three Noreaster's in eleven days impacted the East Coast. Two of these took aim at the Hudson Valley and left significant damage as well as more than 180,000 customers without power.
Riley hit on March 2 and Quinn hit 5 days later on March 7. They were the fourth and tenth most severe storms to impact the Hudson Valley in more than a half-century. People were in the dark, in a storm, in what could have easily become life-threatening conditions. States of Emergency were issued and in some places, people were instructed to shelter in place.
In the midst of all of this, Central Hudson had it's crews out working to restore power in dangerous conditions. Less than 24 hours after Riley hit, 50% customers were restored with everyone back up before the next storm hit. After Quinn, 90% of the outages were restored within 12 hours with the remaining customers restored within three days.
Overall there were 3,500 downed power lines, 2,600 locations with electrical system damage, and 220 broken poles. Because of their response, Central Hudson was awarded the Emergency Recovery Award by the Edison Electric Institute. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges after an international nomination process. Central Hudson had previously been awarded this honor in 2015 after the Thanksgiving 2014 Nor'easter.