Fire at Con Edison substation cuts power to Staten Island customers
July 2019Published 17 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Con Edison substation on Railroad Avenue, Staten Island
- Operator
- Con Edison
- What
- Fire caused power outages to 2,000 customers
- Cause
- Under investigation, not heat related
- Response
- Two generators deployed, restoration by 2am
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Con Edison
What happened
A fire broke out at a Con Edison electrical substation on Railroad Avenue on Staten Island in the early evening. The fire caused power outages affecting approximately 2,000 Con Edison customers in the New Dorp, Grant City and Oakwood neighbourhoods. The outages were scattered across roughly a five mile radius around the substation. Con Edison deployed two generators to reinforce the system while repairs were made, with the utility estimating restoration by around 2am.
The cause of the fire was under investigation at the time of reporting, though a spokesperson said it was not believed to be related to hot weather conditions. The incident occurred just days after a separate power cable fire at a different Con Edison facility, West 65th Street station, caused a much larger outage affecting 72,000 customers on the west side of Manhattan.
Contributing factors
Not reported; the cause of the fire was under investigation at the time of the article, with the utility spokesperson stating it was not believed to be heat related.
Lessons learned
- A substation fire can scatter outages across a five mile radius, so operators should check mobile generator readiness to limit customer impact.
- Substation equipment failures need early isolation and repair plans because clustered incidents at the same utility raise fleet wide concerns.
More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Exact equipment that failed
- Downtime after 2am
- Cost of repairs and lost supply
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Other entries that name Edison
- Transformer fire reported at a Con Edison facility in Chelsea, Manhattan
- Wildfire de-energisation and fire damage hit Southern California Edison network in Palisades and Eaton fires
- Transformer fire at Con Edison substation cuts power in Dongan Hills, Staten Island
- Con Edison substation fire at West 64th Street triggers Manhattan blackout
- Transformer explosion at Edison substation causes downtown Fullerton outage
Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
