Central Hudson sends crews to Vermont, Massachusetts to help with emergencies

Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which serves the Hudson River region of New York, is sending repair crews in Vermont and Massachusetts to help local utilities recover from emergencies.

Central Hudson sent about 30 electric line crews and support staff to restore electric service in Vermont following a storm that dropped more than a foot of heavy, wet snow. The line trucks carrying the crews required tire chains to negotiate the snow. They stayed through the end of last week, helping restore 33,000 power outages caused by the storm.

“Just as we rely on mutual aid when emergencies strike our region, we reciprocate when called upon by other utility companies as long as the needs of our own service area are secure,” Paul E. Haering, senior vice president of engineering and operations at Central Hudson, said. “This mutual cooperation allows our industry to best serve customers during emergencies in order to restore critical energy services as soon as possible.”

Central Hudson also sent about 25 employees to the Boston area to help restore gas service to more than 8,000 homes and businesses in that area. Central Hudson crews are installing replacement gas appliances and heating systems and performing safety tests of the buildings’ internal gas piping. The Central Hudson employees have worked in this area over the last eight weeks.

“We’re proud of our employees’ willingness to leave their homes and families to travel to other states in support the efforts there to restore energy services in those communities,” Haering said. “We’re equally grateful to receive mutual aid from companies outside of our area when needed here. It’s an effective system that benefits our customers.”