After working around-the-clock shifts since Friday night, hundreds of Eversource tree and line crews are working to restore the remaining outages and public safety issues caused by the long-duration nor’easter that battered parts of Connecticut while beginning to plan for standard post-storm patrols, surveys and repairs.
In just under three full days since the storm began, Eversource has restored power to more than 185,000 customers as of 4:00pm on Monday.
Crews making repairs in Ellington. Photo courtesy Eversource
The energy company’s team in the field and behind the scenes will continue working until the approximately 1,300 remaining outages are restored, which are primarily more complex repairs that impact small numbers of customers.
“The intensity and long duration of this storm made this a challenging restoration; it was almost like two storms – one Friday night through Saturday and a second wave all day Sunday that led to all new power outages. Even so, our crews train for this and despite the difficult work conditions they stay focused on the job and worked tirelessly to restore power for customers over a relatively short period of time, in many cases in the same day,” said Eversource President of Connecticut Electric Operations Don Scacco. “As we enter the final stages of this restoration our crews are focused on the remaining single or scattered power outages, which are more complex outages that take additional time to complete and may require assistance from the customer’s private electrician or contractor. Lineworkers are going to each of these individual locations to assess what additional equipment or effort may be required to make the needed repairs so power can be restored. Even when our restoration effort is complete, our response will continue with post-storm patrols and surveys, as well as additional repairs. We know it is always frustrating to lose power, but we thank our customers for their patience throughout this storm response.”
The weekend nor’easter caused significant damage in communities around the state and Eversource worked with cities and towns to address emergency calls. Some preliminary key statistics regarding the damage from this storm include:
• 450+: blocked roads cleared by Eversource crews in concert with local officials
• 300+: number of utility poles replaced or repaired due to damage
• 60+: transformers replaced or repaired due to damage
• 50+: miles of electric lines either replaced or restrung due to damage (mainly tree related)
Eversource reminds customers to be cautious when doing their own storm cleanup. When moving or cutting tree limbs, look for any wires that may be entangled in debris and address any tree limbs or branches that may have been loosened during the storm and left in a vulnerable position and can more easily come down in the next storm or just a windy day.