BUFFALO, NY — About 600 residents were without power at the Kenfield Homes Development on the city's East Side.
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority is working to repair an electrical problem, which cut off power to the entire 80-unit development around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. As of 5 p.m., power to 75 of the units has been restored.
Crews from National Grid, ESI Electrical Contractors and the BMHA's outside electrical contractor, have been on the scene since shortly after the outage occurred.
“After a review by National Grid and our contractor, ESI, it has been determined the problem is with the main switch in our power substation. ESI is now working to remedy the situation and we hope power will be restored within a few hours,” said Modesto Candelario, BMHA assistant deputy director.
The BMHA brought several generators and portable heaters to the development's Martha Mitchell Community Center to establish a warming center. The center has been up and running since 11 a.m., and will continue to offer a shelter, food and beverages until power is restored.
"The BMHA's outside high-voltage contractor is continuing to work to get to 100%, but in the interim, ESI has brought in a large-scale generator which will bring electricity to the structures which remain off-line. Those residents are being urged to stay at the Martha Mitchell Center for a bit longer so they don't go home to chilly apartments," said Sharon Linstedt, a BMHA spokesperson.
This is the second power outage in the past two days at BMHA developments. On Monday, residents lost power for nearly 12 hours at the Commodore Perry Homes. Nearly 200 private residences and businesses were also impacted due to a fault in an underground electrical distribution network operated by National Grid.
The BMHA set up a warming station in a community room at the Perry Homes as residents waited for the power to be restored and the Red Cross provided residents hot meals.
The BMHA says the two incidents are not connected.