ConEd Reimburses ‘Outage’ Homes

Crown Heights residents who were left without power last Wednesday after a manhole explosion can file a claim to recover some of the damage costs.

Hundreds of homes in the Crown Heights neighborhood lost power after an explosion of a Con Edison transformer created a manhole fire at 3:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon.

The outage, which affected customers from Lefferts Avenue to Montgomery Street between Brooklyn and Albany Avenues, was not repaired until 6 am the next morning, leaving residents without electricity for 15 hours.

In the case of a power failure which lasts for more than 12 hours that resulted from a failure in Con Edison’s distribution system, residents can apply for reimbursement of food and prescription medicine spoilage, up to a maximum of $500.

You may file a claim, up to a maximum of $500, for actual losses of food spoiled due to lack of refrigeration.

Claims for food up to $220 must include an itemized list.

Claims for food over $220 must include an itemized list and proof of loss (for example: cash register tapes, store or credit card receipts, cancelled checks, or photographs of spoiled items).

In addition, you may file a claim for actual losses of prescription medicine, spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. You must include an itemized list and proof of loss (for example: pharmacy prescription label or pharmacy receipt identifying the medicine).

Claims must be filed within 30 days of the date of the power outage.

Click here to download the form.