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October 30, 2012For Release: Immediately 8:00 a.m.

**Central Hudson Begins Electric Service Restoration Following SevereOvernight Winds **

Severe winds ra ed the Mid-Hudson Valley overnight as Tropical StormSandy made landfall, interrupting electric service to more than 7million in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including 82,000 CentralHudson customers. Service interruptions caused by high winds impactedthe entire region, with more than 27,000 outages in Dutchess County;28,000 in Ulster County; nearly 19,000 in Orange County; and 2,700outages in Putnam County.Fortunately, the winds have subsided as ofthis morning and conditions are safe for line crews to begin launching afull restoration effort, said James P. Laurito, President of CentralHudson. Given the magnitude of the storm damage, we expect extendedrestoration times.

Central Hudson is deploying a field force of 700 employee linepersonnel, mutual aid crews and contractors, together with hundreds ofemployees serving in support functions. Mutual aid crews continue toarrive this morning, and we anticipate additional resources will arrivelater in the wee , said Laurito. Together, these forces are addressing

more than 900 distinct damage locations.

Damage assessment teams have also begun to inspect the impact of thestorm to the electric system, and we will first ma e repairs to majorfacilities, such as substations and transmission lines, in order toreenergize the system before moving on to local neighborhoods, he said.The storm caused damage to one substation and five transmission lines,and seven major distribution circuits were out of service.

Once the major facilities are on line, we will then focus on thoserepairs that can safely and effectively restore power to the greatestnumber of customers, and if possible to critical care and emergencyresponse facilities, such as municipal water and sewer systems. Crews

will systematically wor along the local distribution circuits until allpower is restored. More information on how Central Hudson restorespower following major storms is available atwww.CentralHudson.com/outage/outage_restoration.html, or in theStormCentral section of the utilitys website.

Distribution of dry ice and bottled water will be begin later today, andannouncements will be made once distribution locations are determined.

Remember to eep safety in mind, especially when it comes to downedpower lines, said Laurito. Tomorrow is Halloween, and we urge parentsand children to avoid areas where lines have fallen. Be aware that

downed lines may also be hidden in fallen trees or piles of leaves.Exercise extreme caution when outdoors while service restoration ista ing place.

Other safety tips include:

* Staying at least 30 feet away from downed power lines, and lineswhich may be entangled and hidden in fallen trees. *Assume alldowned lines are live*;

* Avoiding the use of candles for illumination;

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* Following the manufacturers safety instructions on the use ofemergency generators, and be sure to shut off the main brea er whenin use and to only operate the units outdoors; and

* Never using outdoor gas or charcoal grills indoors, as they pose afire hazard and over time can give off deadly carbon monoxide gas.Use these appliances only outdoors with proper ventilation.Similarly, operate cars and motor vehicles outdoors only, and neverin the garage.

Customers should call Central Hudsons PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or1-800-527-2714 to report their power condition, and they are encouragedto use the automated reporting system. Customers with access to acomputer may also report their power condition via www.CentralHudson.com by using the StormCentral function.Information regarding service restoration estimates, as it becomesavailable, can be obtained by phone and online, and updates are postedon Faceboo and Twitter. A mobile version of theutilitys website, including StormCentral, can be accessed byweb-enabled cell phones and mobile devices athttp://mobile.CentralHudson.com . FreeCentral Hudson mobile applications for Android, Apple and Blac berrydevices are also available by logging ontowww.CentralHudson.com/mobileapp

; recent updates to these mobileapps were made earlier this month, and current users should downloadtheir update, as previous versions of these apps will no longer woroptimally.

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