Con Ed determines 'root cause' of Manhattan blackout

NYC Blackout ap
Photo credit AP Photo/Michael Owens

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) --  Con Edison on Monday afternoon announced that it has "determined the root cause" of the July 13th blackout that left thousands of Manhattanites on the West Side and in midtown without power, adding that it has "taken steps to prevent a recurrence."

"We identified a flawed connection between some of the sensors and protective relays at the substation. We have corrected that condition," the utility said in a statement. 

In order to reach that conclusion, Con Ed said, "we reviewed 15 years of operating data and took equipment out of service at our 65th Street substation to conduct diagnostic testing, which allowed us to simulate the event." 

Con Ed added, "Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken preventive measures by isolating similar relay equipment at other substations. We will analyze and test the equipment before we put it back in service. Our electrical delivery system continues to operate with multiple layers of relay protection."

The utility also seeks to assure customers that they have indeed identified the cause, saying, "We are confident that we have identified the cause of the July 13th outage, and taken the corrective actions necessary to provide safe, reliable service for our customers."