Monday, May 13, 2013
O&R will be trimming and removing trees on certain roadways in the township starting next week.
A maintenance program set to start next week will help address the leading cause of power outages in Mahwah, officials said. The township received notice last week that Orange & Rockland will be conducting its periodic ‘Distribution Line Clearance Program’ in Mahwah for about a month starting on May 20. According to a letter O&R sent to the township, its crews will “cut back trees that are touching lines or which have the potential to interfere with the wires,” and remove dead trees and underbrush. The “vegetation maintenance” program is in an effort to reduce the number of power outages caused by interference from tree limbs, which the utility said is the most frequent cause of power outages in the township. O&R is planning tree clearing …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Orange & Rockland said Thursday customers have complained of a phony bill payment scheme that previously targeted PSE&G customers.
A bill payment scheme demanding phoney payments from Orange & Rockland customers has hit the utility’s local service area, O&R warned in a release Thursday. O&R said in an alert that its customers started reporting Thursday that scammers have called them impersonating utility employees and demanding same-day payments for bogus charges. According to O&R’s release, the scam works as follows: The scam has targeted different utility company customers across the country, including PSE&G customers in New Jersey recently, the release said. O&R recommends any customers who are contacted by utility workers either ask for identity verification, or call 1-877-434-4100 to ensure that the person actually works for the company. O&R serves nearly 11,000 …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Do you think the new brochure, meant to help customers understand why power was out for 11 days after Sandy, is helpful?
About five months after Hurricane Sandy left many homes and businesses in Mahwah without power for more than a week, Orange & Rockland has released an informational pamphlet designed to help its customers better understand the power restoration process after major weather events. According to a release from the utility, it created ‘Restoring Power: A Look Behind the Scenes’ in “an effort to increase customer understanding of its emergency service restoration and electric system recovery operations.” The brochure, which is available online, uses many post-Sandy photos and breaks down power restoration into a 12-step process, the last of which is “bringing your lights back on.” The brochure lists “assessing the damage” as the first step, and…
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Do you think the utility deserves an award for its response to Hurricane Sandy?
This month, Orange & Rockland, the utility that serves over 11,000 customers in Mahwah, was granted an industry award commending its response to Hurricane Sandy. O&R received the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) 2012 Emergency Recovery Award, the utility announced on its website Jan. 10. Con Edison also received the award. The two are sister companies. The annual award is given to one of the organization’s members who “puts forth an outstanding effort,” after a sustained power outage in its service area, a release on the award said. A panel of judges chose O&R after considering a line-up of nominees across the country and world. “We can all be justifiably proud of the excellent response by the industry,” EEI spokesperson Brian Farrell said …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Officials and residents at a state hearing on the utility's response to Hurricane Sandy complained of a lack of communication and information in the weeks after Hurricane Sandy
Most of the few dozen local officials and residents who attended a state hearing on Orange & Rockland’s response to Hurricane Sandy Wednesday afternoon in Ramsey wanted answers to the same questions: Why wasn’t the utility able to tell customers when power would be restored? Why did the restoration effort seem so haphazard? Does O&R give priority to customers in New York over those in New Jersey? Franklin Lakes Mayor Frank Bivona went so far as to call O&R’s response to the storm “deplorable.” He told representatives he was treated disrespectfully by O&R employees when trying to get information from them during the storm, and never received the answers he was looking for. “O&R works for us, and if I took a poll in Franklin Lakes right now…
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The state Board of Public Utilities is holding a public hearing on the utility's response to Hurricane Sandy
Wednesday afternoon, residents and officials in Orange & Rockland’s service area will have the chance to share their feelings about the utility’s response to Hurricane Sandy at a Board of Public Utilities public hearing in Ramsey. According to O&R spokesman Mike Donovan, BPU hearings like this are common after major storms, and are happening with different power companies all over the state. “The format of this hearing calls for us to make a brief presentation, which we will,” Donovan said. But, “the hearing is set up to get the public’s input so the bulk of the hearing is devoted to testimony from customers.” He added, “We’ll be listening closely to what folks have to say.” Local officials say they will be giving the utility and the BPU, …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Utility will not call to ask for your personal information, company said
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Monday, November 12, 2012
Orange & Rockland, the utility that serves about 11,000 customers in Mahwah and has received a lot of attention since Hurricane Sandy for prolonged power outages throughout the township, is warning customers to beware scammers pretending ot be representatives of O&R. The company issued an advisory on its website last week saying representatives never call customers asking for personal information, and any such calls received should be considered suspicious. “For your protection, if someone calls you claiming to be a representative of Orange & Rockland, Rockland Electric, or Pike County Light & Power Co., beware,” the advisory said. “O&R does not call customers to ask them to provide their account information, mailing address, driver’s …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Township plans post-storm analysis to see what it, and Orange & Rockland, could have done better
Township officials are planning a meeting and possible public hearing to assess what went well during its response to Hurricane Sandy, and what should be done better during future emergency situations. The mayor and town council discussed what they called a “gap analysis” of the storm response at a council meeting Thursday night. All commended the work of Mahwah’s responders – the police department, fire department, ambulance, EMS, Office of Emergency Management, emergency response teams, DPW and CERT – both during and after the storm. They also thanked the numerous volunteerswho helped coordinate events after the storm, and neighbors who helped one another get through prolonged power outages. The council also noted that communication from…
Thursday, November 8, 2012
O&R says most will be back on the grid by Saturday night
Ten days after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to over 80% of Mahwah residents, Orange & Rockland said only a small percentage in the township remain without power. Wednesday night, O&R told Patch 673 customers in Mahwah were still without power. By Friday morning, that number dropped to 119. Thursday morning, the utility issued a release saying “almost all of its customers who lost electric service as a result of the hurricane,” would have it restored by Saturday night. “Extensive repairs will continue to restore those customers who remain out of service after Saturday. In a large-scale electric service restoration, scattered isolated areas where devastating damage has occurred are the most difficult to resolve, and as a result are …
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sandy power outages close schools for sixth consecutive day
A week after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to about 80 percent of the township, O&R was reporting 4,057 outages in Mahwah, down from over 9,000 right after the storm. That’s about 37 percent of the township that remains without power. On the utility’s online outage map, the estimated restoration times for a few areas of the township have been updated to Nov. 7, but the majority of the remaining outages are listed as having a Nov. 11 restoration time. As a result of the ongoing power outages, Mahwah students are still not going back to school. Monday marks the sixth day school has been canceled in the township since the storm hit. Interim Superintendent Dr. Karen Lake sent an email to parents Sunday explaining that the district had to …
Bill Goffredo
6:09 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
Leave the trees, move the power lines under ground...if it were only feasible... more ›