Village: LIPA Restores Power South of Montauk

Two weeks after Hurricane Sandy the Village of Lindenhurst says LIPA's finished reenergizing South of Montauk Highway.

LIPA and Electrical Inspections
However, there's been some talk in the community about whether or not the mandatory electrical inspections were still mandatory in order for LIPA to restore power.

Village Administrator Shawn Cullinane told Lindenhurst Patch on Tuesday LIPA's been requiring the initial inspections to assess the situation at individual homes South of Montauk before reenergizing or restoring power to them.

The Village helped facilitate that process by updating residents via text and on its website here.

The November 10 update read as follows:

"LIPA informed us the repowering South of Montauk, which began Friday afternoon is completed. LIPA says all circuits are closed, which means power is flowing into every power line. 

"Some individual homes may need more work before the power can be restored due to service lines to the house being down or damaged. You should contact LIPA if your house does not have power. 

"As detailed in previous postings, extreme caution must be used during the repowering process. The main breaker and all other breakers must be shut off. Before turning any breakers on, a licensed electrician must inspect, repair and/or isolate damaged circuits prior to power being turned on to those circuits. Only then should breakers be turned on individually as you check the integrity of each circuit. 

"Updates progress will continue to be posted on this website, www.villageoflindenhurst.com, and via our text message alert system by texting 'VOL' to 411247."

Further Clarification
Cullinane reiterated the message, noting, "The vast majority have had their power restored South of Montauk. I don't believe there any wholesale blocks without power. It's down to individual homes that might require additional electrical work before power could be restored."

He explained the Village had been facilitating the initial no-cost, mandatory electrical inspections , which yielded National Grid gas beginning to be restored as of last Wednesday.

Any further electrical work beyond the initial inspection would have to be done by a licensed electrician, which residents would have to call on their own, and the cost for the additional electrical work would then have to be paid by individual residents, who might then be able to be reimbursed by insurance or FEMA, he further explained.

As of today LIPA's reporting 45 outages in the Village and six in North Lindenhurst.

But those numbers exclude "customers within flooded areas that cannot receive electrical service from LIPA until their own equipment is repaired, tested and given proper certification from an electrician stating they're ready for service. For further information please click here. LIPA remains committed to working with customers in these impacted communities to expedite restoration where possible, the LIPA website said here.

LIPA also posted these links on its site to update residents:

• http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/index.html#restore
• http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/flood-update.html

"If any residents have any questions about this, then they could call the Village Building Inspector at 631-957-7510," Cullinane added.

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