Con Edison experienced a city-wide voltage dip at 9:30 a.m., which lasted about a second.
A Con Ed spokesman tells Eyewitness News that the problem was caused by a malfunction in a transformer at the utility’s massive power plant at Avenue C and East 14th Street on the Lower East Side.
In less than a second, fail safe systems kicked in and re-routed power around the crippled equipment, preventing a chain-reaction power failure.
Officials insist the weather was likely not the cause, and that this could have happened at any time of the year.
They say these occurrences are rare but not unheard of, and that most times, the fail safe systems kick in before anyone notices.
Con Ed said the voltage dip on a transmission line was “less than momentary, blink of an eye”, and seen across the system.
It is likely related to but not officially linked with a six-minute power outage that caused signal problems and stopped some subway trains.
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