National Grid Makes Significant Progress on Power Restoration in Rhode Island

. (08/30/2011)(readMedia)-- Forty eight hours after Hurricane Irene swept through the state, National Grid has made significant progress in restoring affected customers. Approximately 210,000 Rhode Island customers have been restored, including approximately 67,000 customers whose power has been restored since 1 a.m. today. At the height of the storm, nearly 340,000 customers lost power due to Irene.

On Monday, crews were able to restore power to 2 transmission lines that serve Aquidneck Island and Jamestown. All but approximately 2,000 customers in that area now have power. Nineteen of 21 substations affected by the storm have been returned to service.

As of noon on August 30, outages in Rhode Island counties served by National Grid are as follows:

  • Providence – 68,332
  • Kent – 29,384
  • Washington – 26,295
  • Bristol – 6,996
  • Newport – 2,306

For outage information for a specific community, log on to www.nationalgridus.com and select "Rhode Island" on the Outage Central banner.

It is important to understand that customers are being restored on an ongoing basis 24 hours a day. Given the magnitude and extent of the damage caused by Irene, it is possible that the restoration could continue into the weekend for some of the hardest hit areas.

"We want our customers to know that we are doing everything we can to restore their power," Horan said. "We have thousands of personnel dedicated to the restoration effort including crews from as far away as Texas and Colorado. We will continue to work around the clock until every customer has power."

According to Horan, crews continue to encounter challenges such as severe equipment damage from fallen trees, roads that are blocked by large trees and areas that are flooded. The company is using helicopters, amphibious vehicles and ATVs to access remote and difficult-to-reach areas.

Horan added, "While we are making progress and have restored service to thousands, our crews continue to face challenges in many areas by flooding concerns, closed roads and bridges, and trees and limbs that will need to be removed."

National Grid's New England Customer Service Center has fielded more than 350,000 calls since the start of the storm, including thousands of calls from Rhode Island customers, and on Sunday set a record for volume of calls received in a single day.

Under the company's priority system, repair crews typically first address problems with transmission lines and substations that serve large numbers of customers, and restore critical customers such as hospitals and public safety facilities. Concurrently, crews target lines that serve local neighborhoods. Lines and transformers within neighborhoods and the wires that connect them to homes and businesses come next, starting with areas that involve the most customers.

Staying Safe after the Storm

National Grid urges customers to be vigilant as they clean up from Irene and as the restoration continues. There still may be lines down that could be live, and they may not be readily visible because they are in a flooded area or under fallen trees or tree limbs. If you see lines down, call National Grid immediately at 800-465-1212.

If you use a generator make sure your wiring system is disconnected from our system before operating the generator. This is necessary to prevent your generator's electricity from going back into our system, which could endanger the lives of line crews and your neighbors. Be sure to only use generators outdoors. Exhaust fumes contain poisonous carbon monoxide and can kill or cause serious injury.

If your home is flooded:

  • Check with an electrician before turning on anything.
  • Do not turn off the gas meter even in the event of an evacuation. The gas meter should be left on to maintain proper pressure in the gas piping within the house and to prevent water from entering the lines should flooding occur.
  • Most gas appliances have safety valves that shut off the flow of gas automatically if the pilot light goes out. If your appliances have been in contact with water, please contact a licensed plumbing or heating contractor to make sure the appliances are safe to operate.
  • If we shut off your gas service for safety reasons, we will provide instructions on steps required to safely restore service. Don't forget to check outdoor appliances, such as pool heaters and gas grills.

Log on to www.nationalgridus.com for more information on how to stay safe after Irene.

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.