Government

Update: PSEG says power outage was on Greenport’s end

The Village of Greenport Sunday afternoon, where an outage left residents and business owners without power for about three hours. (Credit: Tina Volinski)

PSEG has denied any responsibility for an outage that lasted three hours in Greenport Sunday.

Village Mayor George Hubbard had said a short in a PSEG line in Southold that supplies power to Greenport was to blame for the outage, but a PSEG spokesperson later said the problem was on Greenport’s end.

We only bring the electric supply to Greenport,” PSEG media relations specialist Elizabeth Flagler wrote in an email. “We tested our power supply independent of Greenport’s equipment and it did not trip. Once we reconnected to Greenport there was a trip.”

The outage, which began at 1:50 p.m. forced some village businesses to close early and others to remain open without power. Electricity did not return to the village until shortly after 5 p.m.

Rena Wilhelm, co-owner of the Weathered Barn on Front Street, said she was one of several local business owners who migrated over to a closed Lucharito’s in Greenport to hang with her fellow merchants while waiting for the air conditioning to pop back on.

“We’re absolutely making the most out of it,” she said. “It’s no one’s fault. We never get to enjoy Greenport because we’re always working.

“We’re sweating, but we don’t care.”

She noted that restaurants legally have to close without power.

“I’m sure there are many restaurants that are hurting,” she said.

Mr. Hubbard said it was premature to say if the outage, which has also affected several homes in East Marion, is related to the warm weather. There were more than 1,300 additional PSEG customers without power across Long Island as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

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Caption: The Village of Greenport Sunday afternoon, where an outage left residents and business owners without power for about three hours. (Credit: Tina Volinski)