Unitil Corporation, (unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is preparing for a winter storm forecasted to impact the area tonight through tomorrow morning.
"We fully recognize that with many families working remotely and children home from school, power outages would only cause further disruption to lives at this time. Unitil has enacted social distancing throughout the organization and has built a plan to ensure we are able to respond to situations exactly like this storm."
Alec O'Meara, Media Relations Manager
According to the most recent forecasts, as much as 6-8 inches of snow are possible in all service areas, with higher totals possible in some isolated inland areas. Snow is expected to develop this afternoon and may continue overnight. The snow is expected to have a wet, heavy consistency, which can stick to trees and limbs. Should the highest snow totals manifest, the snow would have the potential to weigh down branches which may break and fall, causing damage to electric infrastructure.
"We fully recognize that with many families working remotely and children home from school, power outages would only cause further disruption to lives at this time. Unitil has enacted social distancing throughout the organization and has built a plan to ensure we are able to respond to situations exactly like this storm," said Media Relations Manager Alec O'Meara.
In light of the ongoing concerns regarding COVID 19, Unitil proactively secured additional third party crews to bolster resources. Crews will be standing by in all regions, and Unitil will continue to monitor the forecast and is prepared to escalate its response further if conditions warrant doing so.
We recommend our customers remain similarly prepared by checking and making an inventory of the following items:
- Flashlights and fresh batteries
- A battery-operated radio and clock
- Bottled water, canned foods and a manual can opener
- A list of important phone numbers and a car charger for cell phones if applicable
- A first aid kit.
The snowy conditions have the potential to take wires to the ground. 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 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. You can also report outages online here.
