National Grid’s eastern New York field force has grown to more than 3,300 line, service, tree, damage assessment and public safety workers who continue around-the-clock power restoration as the destructive three-day nor’easter moves out of the region today. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, crews had restored service to nearly 125,000, or 90%, of the nearly 139,000 Greater Capital Region customers who lost electricity service due to the storm’s extensive damage.
The long-duration nor’easter brought more than two feet of snow and 45 mph winds to some locations, which resulted in uprooted trees, downed tree limbs and wires, broken poles and damaged transformers. The storm created hazardous travel and work conditions, as well as equipment damage in remote, wooded areas off roadways. The hardest-hit counties include Columbia, Essex, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington.
"Our crews have been working through challenging conditions and remain dedicated to restoring customers as quickly as possible while keeping our teams and the public safe," said Tanya Moniz-Witten, vicepresident of New England Electric Operations. "We are on track to restore most customers by tonight, and we will continue working until every last customer has had their service restored."
National Grid had tracked the storm for several days and was well-prepared to respond, with overhead line, forestry, wires down, transmission, underground, and substation workers mobilized across staging sites in Massachusetts.
The company has brought in crews from nine different states to assist with restoration efforts, including Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
