Almost all of Freeport has power

The Village of Freeport has restored power to all but a handful of residents who experienced outages as a result of Tropical Storm Irene, officials said.

Freeport Electric, the village’s utility, has about 15,000 customers. After the storm, about 4,300 customers were without power.

All power was restored by Monday “with exception of some services, where the customers are waiting [for] licensed electricians to make final connections,” said Anthony Fiore, the village’s superintendent of electric utilities.

The village gets electricity from a combination of resources, including two power plants, hydropower from NYPA and purchasing from the electric grid, Fiore said.

“Village public works crews have been out on extended hours removing trees from roadways and are assisting the village electric department with tree removal on power lines,” said village attorney Howard Colton.

Freeport Electric began operation in April 1898 and is one of three municipal electric utilities on Long Island, along with Rockville Centre and Greenport.

Above, the wrath of Tropical Storm Irene flooded Freeport and knocked out power to thousands. (Aug. 28, 2011)