Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is working to restore power to approximately 13,715 customers, down from a peak of more than 19,000 customers impacted by today’s powerful winter storm. Of those currently impacted, approximately 13,680 of those without power are in the NH Seacoast region, and less than 20 in both the Capital region and North Central Massachusetts.
Winds gusting in excess of 50 mph, along with heavy, wet snow caused significant damage to Unitil’s transmission and distribution system, with the largest impact on the coastal region. Crews have been working closely with municipal officials throughout the storm on public safety issues such as wires down, tree removal and debris clearing and will continue to do so overnight.
“A full complement of crews will be working overnight and hope to make significant progress. Fresh crews will continue restoration efforts on Wednesday,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “We ask for your patience and understanding as restoration efforts continue.”
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 http://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 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.
