Con Ed installs 'smart switch' in Larchmont, NY
Con Edison installs 'smart switch' in Larchmont, NY to reduce power outages after Sandy
LARCHMONT, N.Y. (AP) -- Con Edison linesmen have installed a huge "smart switch" onto a power line in the New York suburbs.
The switch is part of the company's efforts to minimize the kind of outages that occurred during Superstorm Sandy last October.
Con Edison Chairman Kevin Burke says the switch enlargement will allow the company to cut by half the number of customers affected when a tree takes out a power line.
Burke says hundreds of the switches are being installed in heavily treed areas of New York City and Westchester County.
He says the company is investing $1 billion in storm protection measures over the next four years.
Sandy knocked out power for about a third of Con Edison's 3.3 million customers.
