National Grid Crews Hard at Work Tackling Outages from the Holiday Blizzard

WALTHAM, MA (12/27/2010)(readMedia)-- They call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday," but this year, December 27 may be dubbed, "White Monday," as people begin to dig out from the massive blizzard that so far has dumped more than a foot of wind-whipped snow across eastern Mass. Gale force wind gusts pounded the region overnight, with gusts over 40 miles per hour continuing today.

As of 11:00 a.m. on Monday, more than 300 crews are hard at work restoring power to roughly 30,000 customers in Mass. who were affected by the storm. The North and South Shores are the hardest hit areas, primarily because of the heavy winds that have battered the coast since the beginning of the storm. Crews will work around the clock until all customers have their power back. Most customers should be restored today, but the restoration effort is likely to carry over into tomorrow.

Hundreds of other National Grid employees have been working throughout the storm handling customer calls, distributing materials to the affected areas, overseeing safety issues, handling logistics and providing support to the field crews.

"We are working hand-in-hand with local and state emergency, public safety, government and regulatory officials on our restoration effort," said Christopher E. Root, National Grid senior vice president of Electricity Operations. "Our goal is to get everyone's service restored as quickly and safely as possible, and working with our communities and the state helps us do just that."

Root asked customers to be patient as the crews face challenging working conditions including high winds, blowing and drifting snow, and other factors that complicate restoration.

Time-Tested Plan Restores Power Quickly

National Grid emergency crews follow a time-tested plan to begin restoring service as safely and quickly as conditions allow. Accurate damage surveys, resource assessments and restoration estimates are critical in the preliminary stages of any major weather event. Credible and consistent communication with local public officials and the media is maintained throughout the duration of the restoration effort.

• First, crews clear away hazards such as live, downed lines. The clean-up of storm-damaged trees and branches removed from our electric facilities remains the responsibility of the customer or property owner, whether private or municipal.

• Next come repairs to main transmission facilities, including towers, poles and high-tension wires that deliver power from generating plants.

• Recovery work at local substations is also a high priority, because power flows from transmission lines through substations on its way to you.

• Circuits and transformers in neighborhoods and the wires that connect them to your home come next-starting with areas that involve the most customers.

• While waiting for your power to return, please know that we're doing everything we can to restore electric service as quickly as possible.

Company Urges Customers to Take Safety Precautions

During and in the aftermath of a major storm, it is critical to make safety a top priority. National Grid urges everyone to take the following precautions in order to avoid accidents and injuries.

General Safety Tips

• Never touch fallen power lines or anything in contact with fallen wires such as a car, fence or tree.

• If your home is without power and you believe National Grid is not aware of the outage, call the company at 1-800-322-3223.

• Disconnect sensitive appliances such as DVDs, televisions, computers and microwave ovens to avoid potential power surge damage when electricity is restored.

• Turn off any appliances that were on when power went off, but leave one light on so you will know when power is restored.

• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut. Food will stay chilled for six to nine hours in a refrigerator without spoiling. Frozen foods will keep for about 24 hours.

• Burn only wood or newspapers in your fireplace.

• For those who have computer access, or who might be monitoring outages for someone else, National Grid provides real-time outage information, including the option to report an outage at www.nationalgridus.com in the Outage Central section of the company web pages.

Space Heaters

The company urges customers to take special precautions when using a portable space heater to keep warm during an outage. Some types of kerosene and propane portable space heaters get hot enough to ignite nearby draperies, carpet, paper, clothing or furniture. It's important to periodically check nearby objects to see if they feel hot. It's also important to choose a model that has an Underwriters Laboratories label, which means it has passed certain safety tests. If it's necessary to use a portable space heater, check to make sure it has a safety information label and an automatic shutoff device that turns the heater off if it tips over or becomes too hot.

Portable Generators

When a portable generator is in use during a power outage, users must make sure the main circuit breaker in the electric service panel box is in the "off" position or, in older electric service panel boxes, that the main fuse block is removed. This is necessary to prevent the generator's electricity from going back into the power lines in the street and potentially endangering the lives of line crews and other emergency workers. Generator exhaust contains deadly carbon monoxide, so a gasoline or diesel-powered generator should never be run inside a house.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless gas that can be deadly if left undetected. It is the byproduct of the incomplete burning of fuels such as natural gas, butane, propane, wood, coal, heating oil, kerosene and gasoline. Common sources include malfunctioning forced-air furnaces, kerosene space heaters, natural gas ranges, wood stoves, charcoal grills, motor vehicle engines and fireplaces.

During the heating season when windows and doors are tightly shut, fresh air is sealed out, allowing any carbon monoxide that may be present to build up over time. The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to those of the flu. Depending on the amount of carbon monoxide in the air and length of exposure, symptoms may include headaches, weakness, confusion, chest tightness, skin redness, dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, fluttering of the heart or loss of muscle control.

If you suspect carbon monoxide is present in your home, go outside immediately and breathe deeply. If symptoms are severe, get medical attention right away.

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.

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