New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric crews continue working to restore power after strong thunderstorms and damaging winds swept across parts of New York on Thursday.
According to the utilities, more than 175,000 customers lost power after the storm moved through the state beginning Thursday afternoon. As of Friday morning, approximately 16,000 customers remained without electricity.
NYSEG officials said all remaining customers in its service territory are expected to have power restored by midnight Friday. RG&E expects to complete restoration efforts by midnight Saturday.
Utility officials noted that those estimated restoration times represent the latest expected completion deadlines and that many customers will likely have service restored sooner.
To speed recovery efforts, NYSEG and RG&E have expanded their response, increasing the number of deployed line and tree crews from about 600 on Thursday to more than 725 on Friday.
The hardest-hit areas included the companies’ Central division, covering Monroe and Orleans counties; the Ithaca division, which includes Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins counties; and the Lancaster division, which serves Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie counties.
Crews continue to repair extensive storm damage, including replacing broken utility poles and repairing downed power lines. Utility officials said restoration efforts will continue until all affected customers have their power restored.
