Day 3: 70 Percent of Impacted Customers Have Electricity Again Restoration Effort will Continue in Hardest-Hit Areas for Several

More Days
Central Hudson has restored power to 70 percent of the 180,000 customers who lost electricity as a result of Tropical Storm Irene. Despite that significant progress, approximately 56,000 customers remain without electricity as of Tuesday morning more than 80 percent of them located in hardest-hit Ulster, Albany and Greene counties, where restoration work has been hampered by severe flooding, impassable roadways and infrastructure destruction. A workforce of approximately 1,000 Central Hudson employees, contractors and mutual aid crews is working to restore electricity. Field forces have worked around the clock since the storm struck on Sunday to repair damaged transmission lines and to energize substations impacted by the storm. Progress continues to restore power to local distribution circuits and will ultimately reach out into individual neighborhoods, streets and homes as the painstaking restoration steadily progresses in the wake of the deadly storm. As of 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the approximately 56,000 customers who remain without electric service are located as follows: Albany County 2,740 Columbia County 300; Majority projected to be restored by August 31, 2011. Dutchess County 3,800; Majority projected to be restored by August 31, 2011. Greene County 9,800

Orange County 1,500; Majority projected to be restored by August 30, 2011. Putnam County 830; Majority projected to be restored by August 31, 2011 Sullivan County 1,120 Ulster County 36,000 Crews will continue to make repairs and restore service, however nearly 1,000 individual damage locations remain, and it may take several more days before service can be restored to the majority of those customers, said James P. Laurito, President of Central Hudson. He added that an estimated 100 broken poles must be replaced together with 800 sections of line, and access continues to be an issue in many localities due to flooding and washed-out roads. Dry ice and bottled water distribution will take place at the following locations today at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.: Cairo (Greene County) - Angelo Canna Park, Mountain Ave., Cairo (adjacent to Greene County Office of Emergency Preparedness) Ellenville (Ulster County) - Ellenville Village Hall, 81 North Main St., Ellenville Lake Katrine (Ulster County) - Grace Community Evangelical Church, 160 Seremma Ct, Lake Katrine Central Hudson distributed 60,000 pounds of dry ice and 25,000 bottles of water on Monday. Central Hudson officials continue to warn local residents that serious flooding conditions also have the potential to undermine the stability of underground pipelines; they remind customers who may see damage in the vicinity of

pipelines and/or who may smell the odor of natural gas to report the condition via the utilitys Gas Odor Hotline: 1800-942-8274. It is very possible that homes or other structures may have shifted due to flooding, and that the underground natural gas system may be impacted causing a potentially dangerous situation. Customers must notify us immediately if they suspect any portion of the natural gas system is in danger, said Laurito. Laurito also reminded customers of the importance of staying away from downed lines and being alert to the possibility that fallen trees or structures may hide energized electric lines. He also cautioned customers to be aware of the lethal potential of flooded basements that may conduct electricity if an electrical panel or appliance has been submerged in water, and to recognize the danger of standing water that could potentially conduct electricity. If power is lost, customers should call Central Hudsons PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or 1-800-527-2714 to report their power condition, and are encouraged to use the automated reporting system. Customers with access to a computer may also report their power condition via the utilitys website, www.CentralHudson.com, by using the StormCentral function. Information regarding service restoration estimates, as it becomes available, can be obtained by phone and on-line, and updates are posted on Facebook and Twitter. A mobile version of the utilitys website, including StormCentral, can be accessed by web enabled cell phones and mobile devices at http://mobile.CentralHudson.com. Free Central Hudson mobile applications for Android-based and Apple devices are also available by logging onto www.CentralHudson.com/mobileapp.