NH Utility Companies Scramble To Get Power Back To 115,000 Customers

CONCORD, NH — After hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters have been without power for 24 hours, New Hampshire utility companies are working to restore power and state emergency management is requesting residents check in on their neighbors.

Between 6 and 18 inches of snow fell across the street during the past 24 hours, leading to massive power outages. As of 11 p.m. on Thursday, around 115,000 utility customers were still without power after nearly 250,000 outages were reported during the course of the storm.

Eversource reported more than 78,000 without power mostly in the Lakes Region and central and southern New Hampshire. Amherst, Bedford, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, and Windham reported between 800 and 1,500 customers without power. Eversource customers in Concord, Exeter, Milford, Nashua, North Hampton, and Portsmouth reported smaller outages.

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Downed utility poles in Weare. Credit: Eversource.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Eversource said it had more than 800 line and service workers in the field working to restore electricity. Teams from Massachusetts and Connecticut were expected to come to New Hampshire after power was restored in their states.

The company restored power to about 91,000 customers during the first 24 hours of the storm and expected restoration to be a multi-day effort.

“The electric system continues to take on damage and we will have to complete damage assessment before we have a specific timeline for restoring power for all customers, but we know this will be a multi-day restoration effort with the massive destruction to trees caused by this early spring Nor’easter,” said Eversource New Hampshire President of Electric Operations Doug Foley. “Trees were already weakened by last week’s storms, and today’s heavy, wet cement-like snow is sticking to trees — further weighing down limbs and branches that are more easily coming down with the strong winds. Travel has also been a significant challenge for our crews today, with blocked and impassable roads, downed wires, and slippery conditions impeding their efforts to get where they’re needed. Hundreds of additional line crews will continue arriving tomorrow to support our restoration effort, and we will have well over 1,200 line, tree and service crews working to support our communities and customers once they arrive. Our customers have been walloped by these early spring storms over the last week, and we thank them for their patience and understanding as our crews focus on safety while responding to community priorities, clearing damage and making repairs.”

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The New Hampshire Electric Co-Op reported more than 31,000 customers without power, including more than 4,200 in Moultonborough, 3,600 in Alton, and nearly 2,000 in Meredith. Smaller outages were reported in Londonderry. At the height of the storm, close to 50,000 customers were without power.

Unitil had nearly 8,000 customers without power, including almost 600 customers of Concord and more than 900 in Exeter and Stratham. Smaller outages were reported in surrounding communities.

Unitil, at the peak of its outages, had nearly 31,000 without power, the company said.

“It appears the worst of this storm is over, and with the strongest of the winds now subsiding and working conditions improving, our crews will be able to get a better handle on the full extent of the damage and the repairs that will be needed,” Unitil External Affairs Director Alec O’Meara said. “Our crews have spent much of today working with local first responders to address public safety issues, including removing downed trees and powerlines and clearing blocked roads. We expect this to be a multi-day restoration effort, which we understand can be challenging for our customers, but our crews will be working around the clock to bring the rest of those impacted back online as soon as possible.”

O’Meara said customers were reminded that when seeing downed wires, they should assume they are energized and dangerous. Wet ground, puddles, flooded areas, and debris should all be avoided since downed power lines could be nearby.

The Department of Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) urged residents and visitors to practice “power outage safety and use caution when driving.” Director Robert Buxton suggested neighbors check on each other, especially if they were elderly or vulnerable. Also, anyone coming across downed wires should stay away from them and call 911.

The state operations center will remain open during the storm.

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