Cuomo: Regulators Will Investigate Power Substation Damage

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed state regulators to investigate damage to power substations outside Buffalo after nearly 27,000 utility customers lost electricity service over the weekend.

The Democrat made the announcement Sunday in Hamburg, where damage to three substations caused outages to about 26,800 customers Saturday night.

Cuomo says a high-capacity transmission line fell and took down other lines, knocking out power across an area just south of Buffalo served by National Grid and NYSEG. Most customers had their power restored by Sunday night.

The outages occurred a few hours before high winds hit the region, with the National Weather Service recording gusts approaching 60 mph across western and northern New York.

The governor says the Public Service Commission will investigate the utilities' preparation and response to the storms.