National Grid Restores Power to 98 Percent of Customers Impacted by Severe Storm Crews continue labor intensive restoration efforts until last customer is restored

Macroburst with 90 mph winds caused extensive damage in Warren and Washington counties

ALBANY, NY – National Grid crews have restored power to 98 percent of the more than 68,000 upstate New York customers who lost electricity after damaging wind, rain, hail and a macroburst carrying 90 mph winds hit portions of the region on Thursday. While the storm affected many areas of upstate, the most severe damage was seen in eastern New York, where approximately 53,000 customers lost power.

The company expects the majority of the remaining 1,500 impacted customers in the hardest hit areas of Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties to have power restored by late this evening, however some isolated single services where damage is most severe may not be restored until Sunday. National Grid will continue to commit extensive resources until the last outage is repaired.

The severity of Thursday’s storm resulted in significant damage to trees and utility equipment. The field force remains focused on the time-consuming, labor-intensive work of removing downed trees and tree limbs, and replacing transformers and nearly 100 broken poles. Crews also are repairing or replacing miles of feeder lines and circuits, as well as service lines to individual homes and businesses.

National Grid is offering customers dry ice and bottled water through 6 p.m. today at the Kingsbury Volunteer Hose Company, 3715 Burgoyne Avenue, Hudson Falls, N.Y.

“We greatly appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as we continue to work around the clock to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” said Melanie Littlejohn, National Grid’s New York vice president. “This was an extremely damaging storm and we are grateful for the many police, fire, public works, municipal officials, Red Cross workers and other volunteers who did so much to support our customers and our communities.”

Once restoration is completed, National Grid crews will remain in the field for the next few days as storm cleanup continues. In some areas, customers will continue to see significant utility activity as any temporary repairs are made permanent. National Grid urges drivers to use extreme caution as they approach work areas, to ensure the safety of utility and other storm-response personnel. Additionally, customers are reminded to avoid downed wires. All wires should be considered live and should be immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

Any customer who remains without power in an area where their neighbors have had service restored should call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 for assistance.