The Latest: Con Ed defends decision to shut off power

Associated Press
Cyclists ride down a path near the Hudson River during high temperatures on Saturday, July 20, 2019 in New York. Temperatures in the high 90s are forecast for Saturday and Sunday with a heat index well over 100. Much of the nation is also dealing with high heat. One World Trade Center is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on power outages amid hot weather in New York City (all times local):

10:50 a.m.

Con Edison is defending its decision to shut off power to thousands of New Yorkers amid the weekend's high temperatures.

The utility said in a statement Monday that disconnecting power was "necessary to prevent longer outages" that would have occurred as a result of additional equipment damage.

A Con Ed spokesman told The Associated Press the company remains focused on restoring power to some 19,000 customers. Many affected customers are in southeast Brooklyn.

Spokesman Allan Drury said the utility regrets "the distress" caused to those customers.

The statement came after Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters he has lost trust in the private company and called for an investigation of the outages.

The mayor said it may be time for the city to consider using another entity to provide its electricity.

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8:30 a.m.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for a "full investigation" into the power outages in New York following this weekend's high temperatures.

De Blasio told reporters Monday he has lost trust in Con Edison after the private utility company made a "conscious decision" to shut down power in several neighborhoods.

He said the outages were avoidable and the company has provided "no answers whatsoever as to why this happened."

The mayor added it may be time for the city to consider turning to another entity to provide electricity to the nation's largest city.

A message seeking comment was sent to Con Ed.

Con Ed said in a news release that crews were still working early Monday to restore service to about 20,000 customers, many in southeast Brooklyn.

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1:50 a.m.

Power has been restored to 13,000 customers in Brooklyn, but around 40,000 others across New York City are still without power as temperatures remained high overnight and rain clouds loomed over the city.

Con Edison released a statement after 1 a.m. Monday saying that the utility is working to restore service to 20,000 others in southeast Brooklyn still without electricity. On Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Con Ed was taking customers there off power so it could make repairs and prevent a bigger outage.

Besides that, scattered outages affected most boroughs — primarily in Brooklyn and Queens.

LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens have experienced weather-related flight disruptions.

While the weekend's heat wave cooled somewhat, the low remained in the high 70s and city emergency management officials warned of thunderstorms.