NYSEG responds to consistent power outages

By Matt Freeze —

For the better part of the last two months, residents across a large swath of Owego stretching into Candor have experienced regular power outages. 

According to countless Facebook posts and comments over the last several weeks, residents in that area have had to deal with power outages every Sunday for anywhere between a few hours to up to 10 hours. 

Residents are continually outraged at the consistent outages, especially at a time when they say their utility bills have been skyrocketing. 

One resident pointed out that Sunday is her only day of the week to get meal prep and laundry done ahead of the new work week, making it extremely frustrating and difficult heading into the new week. 

NYSEG said recent outages are “largely weather-related.”

“This circuit, which serves 1,325 customers, runs partially along a steep roadside slope containing heavy vegetation,” said NYSEG Director of Communications Shelby Cohen. “For example, the recent combination of hot weather and significant rainfall has created challenging tree conditions, and some trees have uprooted and fallen onto power lines.”

“The Sunday pattern is largely coincidental,” she added. 

Cohen said NYSEG’s vegetation management team continues to work to address hazards in the wooded, rural area. 

“In addition, we’re adding automation equipment along this circuit to give us the ability to sectionalize outages so fewer customers are impacted, to add new power redundancies, and to enhance reliability in the area,” Cohen said. 

During that time, Village of Owego Mayor Mike Baratta said he’s worked with the Presbyterian Church on Temple Street to provide a cooling center for the hot days, and while the village pool is the designated cooling center, Baratta said village officials are thankful for their help.