A workforce of more than 1,600 line, service, tree, damage assessment and public safety workers, including line crew support from western New York, have been working through the night to restore about 71,000 National Grid customers who lost power due to a violent storm that came across the central and eastern portions of the state yesterday. As of this morning, about 20,000 customers remain without power with most of those customers expected to have service restored tonight.

The severe storms brought heavy wind gusts, hail and lightning that caused damage to trees and electric poles across the region, with some of the hardest areas in Saratoga, Herkimer and Washington counties.

In anticipation of the storm the company activated its comprehensive emergency response plan, including:

• Calling in extra resources, mobilizing field and tree crews, and increasing Customer Contact Center staffing
• Pre-staging crews and materials in areas anticipated to be most severely impacted
• Proactively reaching out to elected, municipal and emergency management officials to keep them updated on our preparations and provide safety information
• Reaching out directly to customers through traditional and social media, email and texts and on our website to provide safety information and to urge them to be prepared
• Conducting outbound calls to life support and critical facility customers to ensure they are prepared

The Restoration Process

The company’s first priority is to ensure the safety of our customers and our crews by clearing away dangers such as live, downed power lines. Next come repairs to main transmission facilities, including towers, poles and high-tension wires that deliver power to thousands of customers. Recovery work at local substations also is a high priority, followed by repairs to

neighborhood circuits, transformers and service wires. Click here for more details, including a video, on the company’s restoration process. 

National Grid continues to work closely with local officials to coordinate restoration efforts.  Customers are reminded to remain aware of potential safety hazards such as damaged trees, particularly broken limbs that haven’t yet fallen to the ground. As always, all downed wires should be considered live and immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or by calling 911.

A Reminder on Estimated Restoration Times

• Immediately after a storm, restoration times on National Grid’s Outage Central site may be listed as “assessing conditions.” That’s because safety hazards, such as trees, tree limbs, and downed wires must be cleared away so that infrastructure damage can be assessed and restoration plans can be executed.
• It's normal for outage numbers and ETRs to fluctuate. The numbers can go up and down as an ongoing storm causes new outages and/or as we de-energize lines to make conditions safe for repairs and restoration. Additionally, there could be new outages that occur that are separate from storm-related outages. 
• Outage Central Reminder: Our Outage Central page shows the estimated time of restoration for entire communities and reflects the estimated time for the last customer in that community to have power restored. The most accurate way for customers to check on the power restoration estimate for their specific address is to log into our Report or Check an Outage page.

The company also provides customers with the following safety reminders:

Electricity & Generator Safety

• If a power outage occurs, customers can notify National Grid online to expedite restoration.

• Never touch downed power lines; always assume they are carrying live electricity. Downed lines should immediately be reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or by calling 911.
• Generators used to supply power during an outage must be operated outdoors to prevent the buildup of deadly carbon monoxide. Before operating a generator, be sure to disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker, located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could endanger our crews and your neighbors.
• Customers who depend on electrically powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should register as a life support customer by calling National Grid at 1-800-642-4272. (In a medical emergency, always dial 911.)
• Keep a number of working flashlights and an extra supply of batteries in your home and be sure to charge all electronic devices before the storm.
• Please use caution when driving near emergency responders and crews restoring power.
• Be sure to check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage.

Stay informed and connected:

• Customers can receive personalized alerts by text, email, and/or phone when an outage is detected at their property by enrolling in the company’s outage alert option. To register, text REG to 64743, enter your National Grid electricity account number and select your preferred method(s) of notification. Customers also can text OUT to 64743 to report an outage.

•  For real-time power outage information, online outage reporting, and in-depth storm safety information, visit National Grid’s Outage Central website. Customers who create an online profile also can sign up for email alerts.

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