Unitil (www.unitil.com), a natural gas and electric delivery company with residential and business customers throughout New England, has activated its system-wide and North Central Massachusetts regional emergency operations centers in support of power restoration efforts in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As of 9 p.m., approximately 2,350 of Unitil’s 100,900 electricity customers were without power. Of those, approximately 900 customers are out in Unitil’s Concord, New Hampshire service territory, 1,100 are out in North Central Massachusetts and 350 are out in the New Hampshire Seacoast area. Regional emergency operations centers in Concord, New Hampshire and the seacoast area are staffed and responding to outages in their respective areas.
Beginning at approximately 4 p.m., a severe thunderstorm crossed northern New England, bringing heavy rains, damaging lightning, hail and wind. Unitil had been monitoring the storm and responded immediately, calling in additional third party crews to support restoration efforts.
“Our crews are settling in for a long night of hard work tonight of assessing damage and restoring power to our customers,” Unitil media relations manager Alec O’Meara said. “We are committed to restoring power safely, quickly and efficiently, and we appreciate the patience of our customers while we deal with this storm’s aftermath.”
While the storm has passed, downed wires still present possible safety concerns in local neighborhoods. If you see a downed wire, always assume the wire is still energized and do not approach it under any circumstances. Call customer service to report the situation and a crew will be out to resolve the issue.
Customers experiencing outages should call the following toll-free numbers:
-For Massachusetts: 888-301-7700
-For the NH Capital Area: 800-852-3339
-For the NH Seacoast Area: 800-582-7276
Regular updates on progress will be provided to local media and are also available at www.unitil.com or on Unitil’s Twitter feed, @Unitil.
