A map on National Grid's website shows neighborhoods without power. Thousands of Johnston residents are without power this afternoon as high. National Grid handles the transmission and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
National Grid says that power is out to more than 270,000 of its 480,000 Rhode Island customers. The utility company has 6,500 people working in Rhode Island today from linemen to engineers and phone operators to handle the damage being done by Hurricane Irene.
There are also 80 private contractor crews assisting the National Grid repair operations, many coming from the Midwest.
Still, it will be days before power is fully restored in Rhode Island, according to spokesman David Graves, and "It could be into next weekend before all customers are restored,".
The total number of Rhode Island customers without power hit 277,00 at 4 p.m. Another 5,000 customers from the Pascoag Utility District are also without electricity.
Nearly 300,000 Rhode Islanders are without power tonight as National Grid workers begin to repair the "catastrophic damage" Hurricane Irene inflicted on the state's electrical system.
Restoring power to all communities will take several days, according to Tim Horan, regional president for National Grid. Some can expect to remain in the dark until the end of the week. Horan said he does not yet know which areas will remain dark the longest and the company will have a better handle on the estimate after further assessing the damage overnight.
"The damage is extensive. It's amazing the size of the poles that have fallen," Horan said. "We know it will be multiple days."
Major transmission lines are out of service, and 20 substations — about one-third of the number in the state — are offline. National Grid has 600 employees in the field working to repair the damage, but efforts are hampered by the sheer number of trees that have fallen. The problem is not concentrated to any specific pockets of Rhode Island, but is widespread.
National Grid is working first on "critical customers" — hospitals, police stations and fire stations — as well as repairing major transmission lines to get as many people back online as quickly as possible.
"We've been spared the massive flooding; we've been spared the storm surge, but we have, as you all know, extensive tree damage," Chafee said. "National Grid has been working hard to get your power back. They have given this their highest designation. They've categorized it as a ctastrophic power outage here in Rhode Island."
Sunday, August 28, 2011
National Grid
8/28/2011
News Staff
