Pittsburgh power restorations almost complete, storm recovery efforts just beginning

CBS News

06-05-2025

As Duquesne Light crews work to restore the remaining outages, Pittsburgh leaders said even when the power's back on, there will be a lot more work to do, and more help is on the way.
On day six of recovery from last Tuesday's fierce storms, Duquesne Light spokesperson Matt Neistein said during a press conference with the city Monday that its crews and the nearly 600 additional workers brought in are finally in the homestretch.
"We remain confident that the vast majority of our customers will have service restored by our initial global estimated time of restoration of 11 p.m. Tuesday, May 6," Neistein said.
"As of 3 p.m. today, 96% of city of Pittsburgh customers who lost service as a result of the April 29 storm have been restored, and our overall service area, that number is 98%," he added.
In the wake of the destructive storms, power companies reported more than half a million outages in Western Pennsylvania. There were 325,000 outages across the Duquesne Light service area, with more than 140,000 in Pittsburgh.
"To give you an idea, by the end of this week, we will have replaced nearly 300 poles; in a year, we do 2,000. We also expect to have used 250,000 feet of wire, and nearly 250 transformers replaced. This was a storm of a scale we have never dealt with before," Neistein said.
City leaders were happy to report that more lights are back on and more roads are back open.
"We've been at this since Tuesday night, and we're still at it," said Bill Crean, deputy director of Pittsburgh Public Works.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey says even when everyone has power again, recovery won't be done yet.
"We will have to engage in repairs of our facilities and cleanups on our roadways and parks. We also have new resource to assist residents in cleaning up downed trees and other damages on their property," Gainey said.
Humanitarian organization Team Rubicon is on the ground and ready to help residents in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County with their clean-up efforts.
"Please contact 211 or PA211.org for any needs that Team Rubicon can assist with," said Lee Schmidt, Pittsburgh Public Safety director.
With many forced to clear out their fridges and freezers, families going hungry is another major concern. The city and county are raising money for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank with a $1 million goal.
"Unless we act collectively as a community, hunger will intensify. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is preparing for a 25% surge in demand," Gainey said.
"We have been successful in persuading the state to extend the deadline for SNAP reimbursements to May 30," he added.
The city also continues to work with the Red Cross and Salvation Army to get people food and other things they need.
Anyone who needs food, assistance getting replacement SNAP benefits or other support can contact 311. And again, to request help from Team Rubicon with cleaning up your property, call 211.