12-hour power outage frustrates Troy business owners

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Small business owners in Lansingburgh are trying to recover from a rough weekend. They say a 12-hour long power outage with restoration times being pushed later and later made it hard for them to close down before the day went to waste.

"The power went out at 6:30 in the morning. They said restoration should be between 8:30 and 10:00 in the morning. No big deal," said Tony Buchanan, owner of Jimmy's Pizzeria. "Then, all of a sudden, it's two in the afternoon, four o'clock. How do you plan a business around that?"

Buchanan said Saturdays, especially when it rains like it did this Saturday in particular, are usually one of his busiest days for pizza delivery. So, when the National Grid outage hit 2,000 customers, one being his shop, it started a chain reaction that caused issues beyond not being able to sell slices. He had to close Monday, too.

"My employees lost hours Saturday. I'm a small business. I can't afford to pay my employees because of National Grid. Where we get our product from lost business, because now, I'm not going to get a truck tomorrow because I've got to see what's going on with this stuff," Buchanan said, explaining he has to evaluate which products didn't make it after 12 hours with no electricity.

Ed Doin, owner of Forty One Sports Bar is dealing with the aftermath, too. He had a retirement party scheduled for that night, and at one point the estimated restoration time was 6 P.M., so he thought he was in the clear.

"6:00 o'clock came and went, people were gathering, about 100 people, and we had no lights and no coolers," he said, adding that he estimates it was a $7000 day lost.

According to National Grid, the outage was caused by an animal that made contact with their system, resulting in blown fuses and damaged equipment, followed by an additional equipment failure during restoration.

Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello said while she understands sometimes power outages are because of unforeseen circumstances, she believes National Grid has an opportunity to make things right with these small businesses.

"This is not Grid's fault. Nobody's pointing the finger, but they've been great community partners, so let's keep it rolling," Mantello said, "and maybe there's something Grid can do to partner with these small businesses."

National Grid has a claims process for customers who experience loss of equipment or revenue that may be the responsibility of the company. All customers are welcome to file a claim at this address. According to Patrick Stella, Communications for Upstate New York, National Grid does not typically reimburse for outages caused by circumstances beyond their control, including: Weather, animals, motor vehicle accidents, etc., but all claims submitted will be investigated.

National Grid has some grant programs, but Stella said this incident does not qualify.

Mantello is hoping in the future, National Grid can develop a program specifically for small businesses like Jimmy’s and Forty One, which lost a full day without the ability to make precautionary plans.

"Maybe something positive will come out of this," Mantello said.