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Con Ed Shuts Off Power To Rye House

RYE, N.Y. -- Dr. Cedric Raine's home was flooded from the basement up to 8 inches on the first story during the worst of Tropical Storm Irene, but it never lost power until Con Edison workers came by Wednesday morning to shut it off.

"All my cleaning up had to stop," said Raine, who lives on Orchard Street. "The house just doesn't function without electricity."

Raine said Con Ed workers shut off the power to his house because his electrical breakers were located in the basement where it had flooded, but he felt he wasn't given sufficient explanation as to why it was necessary since the basement had been pumped and the power was still running.

Raine lives with his wife Maureen, who often requires the use of an electric lift to get up the stairs. Both are senior citizens and are currently staying with friends while they put their house back in order.Raine said he was told he needed to hire an electrician to reinstall some components and receive certification by the city's building inspector until the power could be turned back on.

He did just that, but when the electrician went to the building inspector's office that same day he was told that Con Ed shouldn't have shut off the power so quickly and without authorization.

By 5 p.m., Raine had his power back on, and said he received a formal apology from Con Ed representatives, though they did not know who the workers were who initially shut off the power, nor was a work order filed.

"It's a mystery," said Mrs. Raine. "But I guess there was a lot of confusion after the storm."

Con Edison announced Wednesday morning that it had restored power to 170,000 of its 178,800 Westchester and New York City customers.

 

Have Con Edison workers shut off power to your house recently?

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