Residents voice frustrations with back-to-back power outages in Mountain Lodge Park
The community has had five back-to-back, sometimes hour-long, power outages since last Thursday that News 12 has confirmed with the utility provider, Orange & Rockland.
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A series of power outages since last week in the Mountain Lodge Park section of Monroe has residents frustrated, worried and reaching out to News 12 for help.
“Every night. Seems like clockwork,” says Jane Hariton Vincent. “It’s miserable. You can’t cook. You can’t do anything. You’re just there in the dark.”
The community has had five back-to-back, sometimes hour-long, power outages since last Thursday that News 12 has confirmed with the utility provider, Orange & Rockland.
“It usually happens when its dark outside. The heat goes out, so it’s been really tough,” says Samantha Bryant.
A spokesperson for Orange & Rockland Utilities says several factors are to blame for the outages, including the recent high winds.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s been this consistent in this area, but we are dealing with similar issues elsewhere because of the nature of our overhead infrastructure in the territory,” says O&R spokesperson Vito Signorelli. “The winds have been incredibly consistent since the weekend.”
Signorelli says overgrown vegetation may have also contributed to two of the outages and has been cleared. He says routine maintenance was done in the area in October and that the company is planning to do unrelated, “minor upgrades” after a recent site inspection.
Some neighbors however, including Hariton Vincent, who claims a power surge during one of the outages broke her stove, feel that the reasons given do not explain why the community is losing power around the same time at night.
“I lose track of all the excuses,” says Hariton Vincent. “I want someone to say this is what we are doing. What’s the game plan?”
The most recent outage during the day on Wednesday impacted roughly 500 people in Mountain Lodge. O&R Utilities got back to News 12 later in the day and said the outage was due to maintenance to allow for an increase in demand at night, as residents return home and turn on their electric heat.
