National Grid Gears Up for January Wintry Mix

WALTHAM, MA (01/11/2012)(readMedia)-- As the recent mild weather is about to give way this evening to conditions far more typical for January, National Grid is gearing up for possible weather-related service interruptions. While some areas across New England are expected to see predominantly rain, other areas of National Grid's service area could see more severe weather such as high winds, heavy wet snow and appreciable ice accretions overnight and into Thursday.

To prepare, the company is adding additional crews for deployment to key areas of its service territory and is readying equipment should power outages occur. The company also is communicating its plans to communities and municipal officials throughout the region.

"We continue to monitor the weather and are taking action now to be able to respond quickly and safely to potential outages that could occur to minimize the duration of any service disruptions," said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. "As always, our top priority is safety and we are reaching out to our life support and critical facilities customers as a precaution. We encourage our customers to visit the National Grid website, nationalgrid.com, for storm preparation tips and up-to-date power outage information."

Tips To Weather the Storm

The company offers the following tips for customers that will minimize inconvenience and ensure safety in the event that storm-related power interruptions occur. National Grid urges customers to make safety a priority.

Winds, icing and heavy wet snow can cause local electrical service interruptions. It's a good idea to have a number of working flashlights, at least one battery-operated radio and an extra supply of batteries in your home.

People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a National Grid life support customer, call the company's Customer Service Contact Center at 1-800-322-3223.

Post National Grid's emergency outage reporting number, 1-800-465-1212, near your telephone so it will be handy if needed.

• People should consider any downed wire they see to be live and dangerous. If you see any fallen lines, broken poles or trees touching wires, please contact the company.
• Customers with generators should be sure to install them outside to avoid deadly carbon monoxide. Open windows are inadequate for safely ventilating a generator. To ensure safety, operate generators only outdoors. Before installing generators, be sure to disconnect from National Grid's system by shutting off the main breaker located in the electric service panel.
• Lastly, National Grid urges motorists to use extreme caution when driving near utility crews at work.
  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.

National Grid

National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society - to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it 'joins everything up'.

In the northeast US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.

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

For more information please visit our website http://www.nationalgridus.com

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