WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. January 19, 2006: Con Edison reported to WPCNR moments ago that as of 2 P.M. today, 900 households are without power within the city. Joe Petta of the Con Edison Communications office told WPCNR that 1,000 city households had lost power during Wednesday storm, one hundred restored.

Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti, gave WPCNR his personal assessment of the city situation at this time reporting the following areas were without power: Saxon Woods off Mamaroneck Avenue; Heatherbloom, Windward Street, Prospect Street, Macy and Heatherbloom, Old Mamaroneck Road at Bolton and Bryant . Mr. Nicoletti said he was waiting for Con Ed engineers to clear wires at those areas to clear trees down with wires on them. The Commissioner reports 26 trees or limbs were downed in the city. The closest experience to this, he recalls was a microburst about a dozen years ago.

Nicoletti told WPCNR he works closely with a Con Ed district office contact advising him of where White Plains needs Con Ed assistance in determining whether downed wires are live wires or non-hot telephone or cable lines, before roads are cleared.

 The Commissioner said wire shutdowns are complicated depending on the kind of line it is high voltage or as low as 240 volts leading to homes. "You need a different (Con Ed) expertise to shut down different lines," Nicoletti said. Sometimes, in clearing wires, the Con Ed engineer being sent out is unable to shut down the line and has to call for a specialist for the specific kind of wire. He did not pinpoint whether that was the case in White Plains the last two nights.

Nicoletti said the city faxes Con Ed areas that are out in situations such as the last 24 hours. Con Ed advises him when they are sending a crew out, and "we're right on it," Nicoletti reported that when Con Ed arrived at key areas of the city last night he had three crews ready to dispatch to go in after Con Ed determined it was safe for them to remove a tree or limb covered with a wire.

In the past Nicoletti said, Con Ed supplied liaisons to various cities in times of emergencies, but over the years, he said he has developed relationships that he can call on when he needs Con Ed's assistance or attention to clearing main roads and special situations.