Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is preparing for a major winter snowstorm to impact the region Tuesday and into Wednesday.
According to the most recent forecasts, as much as 16-20 inches of snow are possible in all regions. This snow is forecasted to be mostly normal consistency, though some wetter snow may fall closer to the coast for a brief portion of the event. Gusty winds approaching 35-45 mph are also possible during the peak hours of the storm.
Unitil has secured additional crew resources to respond to outages. At this time, Unitil plans to open its system Emergency Operations Center to aid in coordinating its response to the event. Unitil will continue to monitor the storm’s track and consistency of the snow and will be prepared to escalate its response if warranted.
“The intensity of peak gusts and the volume of wetter snowfall will be the key indicators for what impact this system may have on electric infrastructure,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “Because small changes to the storm track can have an impact on these factors, we will continue to closely monitor forecasts as the storm approaches.”
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.
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 food and a manual can opener
- A list of important phone numbers and a car charger for cell phones if applicable
- A first aid kit.
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 the following toll-free numbers:
- For the NH Seacoast Area: 1-800-582-7276
- For the NH Capital Area: 1-800-852-3339
- For Massachusetts: 1-888-301-7700
You can also report outages online at http://www.unitil.com/report-outage.
