Unitil Corporation, (Unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is responding to outages in all regions as a powerful nor’easter continues to cause system issues.
As of 5:50 p.m., approximately 17,000 Unitil customers are without power, 15,800 of whom are in Massachusetts where nearly two feet of wet, heavy snow has already fallen. While another 4-6 inches of snow are possible, wind gusts of 50 mph are expected in all regions tonight, with higher gusts possible in coastal areas. With wet snow already on the trees, these gusts have the potential to create new outages on top of what is already expected to be a multi-day restoration effort.
“Once the storm has passed, we will be sending out damage assessors to see how much damage has been caused by the storm,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “Once we get information back from the field, we’ll get a clear picture of what’s out there and will be able to calculate a global restoration time.”
Crews will continue to work with first responders to address public safety issues and to restore power where conditions allow during the overnight hours and into tomorrow. New outages remain possible so long as hazardous conditions persist.
Heavy wet snow has the potential to damage trees and to take wires to the ground. We urge people to always assume all fallen or dangling cables and wires are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed line, as water conducts electricity. In addition, keep away from all flooded and debris-laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines. Stay in a safe place and avoid driving in damaged areas so you don’t interfere with rescue and restoration efforts.
Unitil will be communicating throughout the event through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our website, our customer call center, and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via Facebook, our Twitter feed (@Unitil) and we will be providing real-time outage information online at unitil.com/map.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MEDIA:
Unitil asks that when reporting outage information, outlets time stamp the information. Outage numbers change hourly and we wish to make sure the information customers receive is consistent and understandable. Re-Tweets and re-posting of old information without referencing a time can create confusion.
Customers experiencing outages should call 1-888-301-7700 or report online at unitil.com/report-outage.
