Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is focused on addressing public safety issues resulting from the wind event impacting New England.
As of 12 p.m., approximately 8,143 customers are out of power, with 86 in Massachusetts, 1312 in the Capital region and 6,745 on the Seacoast of New Hampshire, which saw the greatest impact from the storm. The threat of high, sustained winds will continue throughout the day which may result in additional power outages. Crews are working closely with first responders to assist with public safety issues, such as downed wires and road closures, while working to restore power to customers where possible.
"The strong winds from today’s nor’easter caused significant damage to our electric infrastructure. Fallen trees have cause downed wires and broken utility poles which require significant resources and repair time. Our crews continue to assess the impact of the storm on our electrical infrastructure and when complete, we will have a clear understanding of how long it will take to restore power."
Alec O’Meara, Unitil Media Relations Manager
In the event of downed wires, assume all cables and wires that have fallen or dangling are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed lined because 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 www.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.
