Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) is preparing to deploy its emergency response teams as forecasts predict potentially severe thunderstorms in the region on September 5, 2025. The storms are expected to bring strong winds and lightning during the afternoon and evening, raising concerns about possible disruptions to electric service.
According to O&R, these weather conditions could result in downed trees or limbs that may interfere with electricity delivery. The company urges residents not to approach any downed wires and to assume all such wires are energized and dangerous. “For safety’s sake, O&R warns the public not to touch or approach any downed wire. Assume the wire is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also consider calling your local police to divert traffic from the downed wire’s location until an O&R crew arrives.”
Customers experiencing outages are encouraged not to assume their issue has been automatically reported. Outages can be reported through several channels: online via Report an Electric Service Problem | Orange & Rockland (oru.com), through the O&R mobile app available on Apple Store or Google Play, by texting “OUT” to 678797 (ORUPWR), or by calling 1-877-434-4100.
Once conditions are safe following the storm, O&R crews will prioritize clearing downed wires blocking roads and restoring power first to critical facilities such as hospitals and emergency services before addressing smaller outages affecting individual customers. The company emphasizes a number of safety measures for residents:
“For safety’s sake, don’t touch or approach any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free 1-877-434-4100. Depending on the situation, you may also want to call your local police to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.
Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.
If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car to make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
Pole-top transformers those small, grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the ground.
Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
Have emergency equipment within reach portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Keep O&R’s toll-free number 1-877-434-4100 near the phone to report power outages.
Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.”
O&R also advises owners of electric vehicles (EVs) in its service area—which covers about 300,000 electric customers across southeastern New York State under Orange and Rockland Utilities as well as northern New Jersey under Rockland Electric Company—to ensure their vehicles are charged between 75%–90% ahead of anticipated outages.
The company serves both electric and natural gas customers throughout multiple communities in New York—including Airmont, Clarkstown, Middletown—and parts of New Jersey such as Allendale and Mahwah.
O&R is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of America’s largest investor-owned energy companies.
