With snow and a cold snap triggering several power outages across Brooklyn over the past two weeks, many residents are questioning the borough’s readiness to handle weather-related power failures.
On Saturday night, hundreds of Con Edison customers — primarily in Bushwick — lost power, according to the utility’s outage map. The outages were caused by “an electric problem in some parts of Bushwick in Brooklyn,” a notice on the Con Edison website read on Saturday.
“We had to shut off power temporarily to prevent more extended outages. We’re completing repairs as quickly as possible,” the notice said.
Although most power was restored by Monday morning, Bushwick resident Alyssa Gonzalez said she did not want to take any chances. Gonzalez said she planned to stay with a cousin on Long Island to ensure she could log on to her remote accounting job and keep her 7-month-old child warm.
“I didn't want to be stressed out wondering, waiting for the power to be back on,” Gonzalez told BK Reader on Sunday. “If it was just me, then I might wait it out. But it's too cold for my baby. But my cousin said her power is on, and she also has a generator.”
Similar outages have been reported since a major winter snowstorm hit the city Jan. 25. Large portions of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick and Park Slope lost power during that storm. Last week, thousands of Con Edison customers in Boerum Hill and Park Slope were affected by another major power outage.
One cause of winter outages occurs when melting snow mixes with road salt and seeps into the underground electrical system, according to a Con Edison spokesperson. If the mixture reaches copper conductors in electrical cables, it can cause smoking and result in service loss.
Brooklyn Health/Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brownsville has been operating in part on generator power for more than a week, a hospital system spokesperson confirmed.
A Con Edison power feed to the hospital failed Jan. 30, triggering the hospital’s critical modular electrical power distribution system and forcing a switch to a backup generator, the spokesperson said. That generator then failed around 3:00am on Saturday, causing a power outage that affected lighting and elevators in parts of the hospital.
“A thorough assessment of all patient care units was conducted, revealing no significant impact on patient care or other critical services,” the spokesperson said, adding the generator was repaired by 9:45am Saturday.
Brookdale staff and patients also endured extreme heat last year when the hospital’s cooling system failed. The hospital declined to comment on whether it plans to upgrade its heating and cooling infrastructure.
Many homeowners in suburban and rural areas have long relied on generators to keep the lights on during power outages. In dense urban neighborhoods, residents are often dependent on building managers to respond to extreme weather events.
The strain comes as Con Edison recently received state approval to raise customer rates as it works to modernize New York’s aging power grid. The upgrades are intended to strengthen the system against climate change and meet rising electricity demand as more buildings and vehicles move away from fossil fuels. The utility has invested $2.3 billion in recent years, including $505 million for new transmission lines in parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island and the construction of a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Brownsville in 2025.
Jacques Morel Jr., a Bedford-Stuyvesant resident, said problems with his building’s elevator may be tied to insufficient power. Over the past month, the elevator — the primary way residents access their apartments — has malfunctioned three or four times, often remaining out of service for several days.
"It's very stressful thinking that every time you ride the elevator, you're worried that it's your turn to get stuck on it," Morel said, adding that he worries about disabled and older New Yorkers during a power outage. "If an elevator is the primary way you get in and out of your home, you're at a loss if it keeps breaking down."
Poor insulation and improperly sealed windows can also drive up costs, residents say.
"And when a building is poorly insulated and windows are not properly sealed, your monthly energy bill can be $700 to $900 per month if you use the [electric] central heating system," another resident of the building said.
"I only turn on the heat when guests come over," said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "Otherwise, I use space heaters."
Extreme heat and cold place enormous strain on the power grid, according to Samuel T. Frank, founder of the nonprofit Resilient New York.
But that does not mean utilities cannot do more to maintain and insulate transmission lines to protect them from elements such as road salt, he said.
Frank said New York ultimately needs a more diverse mix of energy sources — including solar, wind and battery energy storage systems — to meet growing demand.
Some communities have opposed battery storage projects, citing fire safety concerns, despite a lengthy approval process that includes reviews by multiple city agencies, including the Fire Department.
"But just because something is a challenge, doesn't mean it's not necessary," Frank said.
