December 19, 2023 |Energy, National Grid, News, Resources, Weather, Winter storms

National Grid Makes Significant Progress to Restore Service Following Damaging Storm

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National Grid crews have been working overnight to restore power to nearly 130,000 customers since Monday’s storm tore through the region, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of customers.

The storm arrived early Monday morning and continued through much of the day, with wind gusts in some locations as high as 60 mph. Since the start of the storm, more than 279,000 National Grid customers have lost power at some point. Strong wind gusts, downed trees and limbs, and flooding slowed restoration efforts until late afternoon Monday. Despite the challenging conditions, over 210,000 affected customers have been restored.

As of 10 a.m., approximately 70,000 customers remain without power. While there are scattered outages all over the state, the highest concentrations of outages are in the counties of Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Worcester. National Grid is allocating additional crews to the hardest hit areas.

“Our crews have been working tirelessly to restore service as quickly and as safely as we can, and we’ve made a lot of progress – but there is a long way to go. This storm caused a lot of damage largely across Eastern Massachusetts, and we have crews focused on the hardest hit locations. We recognize that this is a challenging time of year to lose power as everyone is preparing for the holidays, but we’ll continue to work until every last customer is restored.”

Tim Moore, Vice President for Electric Operations for New England

The company has secured additional crews, including from New York and Canada, who will be working for as long as needed to restore service as quickly and safely as conditions allow.

National Grid is updating and refining estimated times of restoration (ETRs) for all impacted areas and will continue to do so throughout the day on Tuesday. During a major storm event with widespread damage, “Global ETRs” are provided until estimates for individual communities can be refined. This Global ETR designation is constantly updated as more precise damage assessment reports are received and reviews are completed on the needed equipment providing service to the customer. The ETRs indicate the estimated time when the very last customer will be restored.

As always, the safety of our customers, communities, and crews is the top priority during any power restoration process.

The company offers the following tips and reminders:

Customers Should Stay Connected

• Report power outages at www.nationalgridus.com or call 1-800-465-1212.
• Use your mobile device to track outage information and storm-related safety tips through National Grid’s mobile site, accessible at www.ngrid.com/mobile.
• Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram; we post all the latest storm and restoration updates.
• Track outages and estimated restoration times at www.nationalgridus.com/outage-central
• To stay connected during storms and outages, text to 64743 using any of the below commands.
  • REG to sign up for text alerts
  • OUT to report an outage
  • SUM followed by your town, county, or state to get a summary of outages in your area
  • HELP for the complete list of commands 

Stay Safe

• Never touch downed power lines, and always assume that any fallen lines are live electric wires. If you see one, report it immediately to National Grid or your local emergency response organization. 
• Power problems can sometimes interrupt public water supply systems or disable well pumps, so it’s an excellent idea to keep a supply of bottled drinking water handy, as well as some canned food. 
• People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a life support customer, call the company’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-322-3223. 
• Check on elderly family members, neighbors, and others who may need assistance during an outage.   

Electric Safety

• If you use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to operate it outdoors. Before operating generators, disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could jeopardize the safety of line crews and the public. 
• If you lose power, turn off any appliances that were on when the power went off, but leave one light on so you will know when power is restored. 

Gas Safety

• If you suspect a natural gas leak:
• Get Out – All occupants should leave the house immediately. Do not use the telephone or light switches for any reason.
• Call Us – After leaving the house and reaching a safe environment, call the National Grid 24-hour gas emergency number for Massachusetts: 1-800-233-5325
• Stay Out – Do not return to your home until National Grid tells you it is safe.

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.

The above press release was submitted to us by National Grid.