Hurricane Sandy expected to bring massive power outages

Utility companies are positioning workers for expected outages from the superstorm along the East Coast. Hurricane Sandy: Utility companies prepare for powerful storm By Adrienne LaFrance Digital First Media WASHINGTON - Utility companies along the East Coast had thousands of workers ready to respond late Sunday as Hurricane Sandy headed north packing rain and winds that were expected to knock out power to millions of people. Speaking from the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington on Sunday, President Barack Obama said people in the storm's path will have to be "vigilant for a couple of days," according to a White House transcript. "Don't anticipate that just because the immediate storm has passed that we're not going to have some potential problems in a lot of these communities going forward through the week," Obama said. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, which provides power for some nine million people in and around New York City, was prepared to shut down service in some areas to minimize damage from possible flooding. "We expect a lot of outages because of the wind and rain knocking trees into power lines," ConEd spokesman Michael Clendenin said. "But also, because of the expected storm surge, the low-lying areas that have underground electrical equipment could be susceptible. If we see flooding going on with seawater, de-energizing will make for a faster restoration. If we didn't do it, you could be looking at weeks." In New Jersey, officials said residents should be prepared to live without electricity for more than a week. Gov. Chris Christie cautioned those who are flouting warnings, urging citizens not to be cynical about the forecasted severity of the storm. "We have to be prepared for the worst here," he said. "We're in for a bit of a haul." Officials in New Jersey, which is expected to be hit hard when the storm makes landfall Monday, said the state is better prepared to respond to Hurricane Sandy after improvements made in the wake of last year's Hurricane Irene. Public Service Electric and Gas says it spent $28 million trimming trees near power lines, and more than doubled voltage capacity so that power lines can better withstand lightning strikes and storm damage. The utility now has 1,000 workers in the state, ready to hunker down for the duration of the storm, according to a spokesman. "That's split between linemen for restoration of lines and tree removal workers," PSE&G spokesman Paul Rosengren said. "That's probably the largest contingent we're ever had hunkered." A PECO spokeswoman in Philadelphia said the utility had called up hundreds of back-up workers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. "We do expect, given the severity of all the forecasts, that this is going to be a multi-day event," PECO's Karen Muldoon Geus said. "Safety is absolutely paramount. We tell our customers, 'Please stay away from downed wires. Always assume that PECO's equipment is energized, even if there's an outage.'" In Washington, D.C., Potomac Electric Power Co. said it is "aggressively executing" its emergency response plan and anticipating potentially "devastating damage" and outages lasting several days. Officials in the district also began distributing sandbags at area high schools. By Sunday afternoon, 400 additional crews were en route to Washington, a spokesman for PEPCO said. Officials in Delaware don't expect Hurricane Sandy to be as devastating in their region as it could be in New Jersey and New York, but they're still anticipating major disruption. "We're basically on standby waiting for something to happen," Delaware Electric Cooperative spokesman Jeremy Tucker said. "We're ready. We're just waiting."