O&R: Generators complicate work

CHESTER — South Blooming Grove Mayor Robert Jerolman went to work early Monday, distributing dry ice to towns and people still without electrical refrigeration.

Residents went without power after Hurricane Sandy brought down highly charged transmission cables in the area of Peddler's Hill Road and Route 280.

"The wires were so hot, they set the blacktop on fire,” Jerolman said.

Orange & Rockland cut power to the fallen wires after hearing from the town’s fire department. Jerolman said the line was hazardous because of electricity flowing from home generators operating in the area.

Generators powering a house can also deliver electricity to the lines connected to it. Known as “generator back feed,” the problem can be deadly for anyone working on the lines.

Donovan said the risk of generators causing or prolonging serious problems has grown as more and more people use the machines to stay plugged in during an outage.

“The potential for an issue has grown enormously,” said Donovan. “The concern from our perspective is that it puts our employees at grave risk.”

The problem can be prevented by having “a qualified electrician install a manual transfer switch to prevent backfeed into our lines,” according to O&R’s website.

Counting the costs

Dan Doyle, operator of Brakewell Steel Fabricators in Chester, said his company depends on electricity to survive.

The firm does a healthy business manufacturing steel staircases, and also forges specialized steel components for bridges and other highway infrastructure projects.

“Over here, these will be used for fencing along the Belt Parkway,” said Doyle, pointing to a row of specially bent frames. The company is also creating custom I-beams to reinforce the Throggs Neck bridge, he said.

Doyle estimated that his company lost about 1,750 worker-hours, or about $80,000, in the four days after the storm that Brakewell went without power.

“Every day that we are not working is another day of delay for these projects, which affect New York City’s mass transit system,” he said.

Power was restored to Brakewell after Town of Chester Supervisor Steve Neuhaus pressed Brakewell’s case with O&R, which Doyle said had scheduled and then cancelled plans to reconnect service earlier in the week.

Donovan could not estimate how much the recovery will cost O&R, but it is likely be the highest the company has ever expended responding to a single event.

“After Hurricane Irene, we had 120,000 outages, and for the October snow event (of 2012), it was 134,000,” he said. “Sandy is equal to those two combined. It really is an extraordinary storm.”

The "Snowtober" event alone cost the company $19 million, he said.

Last on the list

With 15,100 reported outages in Orange County remaining, unlucky residents still without power are growing more aggravated.

Monroe resident John O’Brien said he's failed to persuade O&R workers to reconnect his house, even as surrounding houses have regained service.

“I understand they are trying to get as many people connected as the can," he said. "But just because you’re one isolated case, they don’t care about you."

Workers have come to his house to secure a downed wire, he said. Since then, he has flagged down men in trucks coming to and from the O&R operations building in Monroe to ask them for help.

“In the big aquarium, I am just one little fish," he said. "But I feel like they’ll let you freeze to death."

Donovan said many factors determine where to send workers during a widespread emergency, with the greatest weight given to projects that advance or preserve public health and safety.

Donovan denied rumors that O&R diluted its local workforce by sending workers to help hard-hit areas of New York City immediately following the storm.

“We airlifted 17 trucks and 200 men out of southern California," Donovan said. "We also have the national guard from the state. We are a company of about one thousand workers normally. We have contracted with 2,500 outside workers in addition to that, which means we are operating at more than three times our normal size."

Workers will be clearing roads and restoring service on Monday in parts of Chester, Warwick, Pine Island, Blooming Grove, Greenwood Lake, Monroe, Harriman, and Tuxedo Park, he said.