About 40 San Diego Gas & Electric employees were sent today to storm-stricken New York today, according to the utility.
The linesmen and other workers caught a military flight from March Air Reserve Base, near Riverside, to Stewart Air National Guard Base, near Newburgh, N.Y., north of New York City.
According to SDG&E, they will assist crews with Orange & Rockland, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison that provides electricity to 300,000 customers in New York, northern New Jersey and a small slice of Pennsylvania.
About 170,000 of O&R customers remain without power, after almost 230,000 had their service cut off by superstorm Sandy, the company said.
They had been scheduled to depart Friday. Their equipment left Lakeside on Tuesday aboard flatbed trucks.
"We are proud to be a part of the power restoration effort by sending experienced and dedicated SDG&E employees to help Con Edison and their customers who were affected by...Sandy,'' said Mike Niggli, president and CEO of SDG&E. "Our employees are pleased to have the opportunity to help even though it means long days and significant time away from their families. We hope that our efforts will assist those communities in getting back to normal as soon as possible.''
Sandy killed more than 60 people after it roared ashore Monday night, causing widespread damage, disrupting transportation systems and leaving more than 8 million utility customers without power.
The employees include six five-person line crews, two mechanics and another 10 various supervisors and coordinators from the utility's construction and operation centers throughout San Diego and southern Orange counties.
