The Associated Press
A man looks through the debris of his destroyed home after Hurricane Sandy on October 30, 2012 in the Rockaway section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. At least 40 people were reportedly killed in the U.S. by Sandy as millions of people in the eastern United States have awoken to widespread power outages, flooded homes and downed trees. New York City was hit especially hard with wide spread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city.
MINNEAPOLIS - Xcel Energy Inc. is sending crews from Minnesota and other parts of its service area to the East Coast to help restore power in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
Thirty Minnesota lineman and six managers, safety consultants and fleet mechanics volunteered to deploy with equipment and trucks from the Twin Cities early Wednesday.
The Minnesota crews, along with eight linemen from Northern States Power-Wisconsin, will travel to West Virginia, where they will help restore power to customers of American Electric Power Co.
Judy Poferl, president and CEO of NSP-Minnesota, says AEP specifically asked for Xcel Energy crews.
Xcel crews also are being deployed to help on the East Coast from the company's Denver-based Public Service Co. of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service Co, based in Amarillo, Texas.
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