Unitil: power to be restored to all customers by Tuesday; Eversource expects full restoration by Monday
By Matt Leighton
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MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — Power will be fully restored to Unitil customers by Tuesday morning, the utility said Sunday evening.
Eversource said it expects to have “substantially complete restoration” by 11:30 p.m. on Monday.
Tens of thousands of New Hampshire customers woke up without electricity Sunday morning after a storm moved across the Granite State on Saturday.
As of 5 p.m. on Sunday, Unitil said it had approximately 4,700 customers without power, down from a peak of 7,000.
Most of those still without power are in Concord, which was hit with both heavy, wet snow and freezing rain, pulling trees and limbs into poles and wires.
Unitil said it had its own crews and contractors working through the night, and will be joined by fresh crews from Vermont Monday morning.
“At each location, crews are finding multiple issues requiring repairs, significant amounts of wires down issues and broken poles, all of which are slowing repairs,” said Alex O’Meara, external affairs director for the utility.
Hundreds of Eversource crews are working to restore power to customers. As of 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, they restored power to more than 62,000 customers since Saturday.
Additional out-of-state crews arrived throughout Sunday, Eversource said. The heavy, wet snow, gusty winds and icing caused tree damage in areas of the state, Eversource said.
According to Eversource, the storm caused at least 45 broken poles and more than 180 blocked roads across New Hampshire..
People should also stay at least 35 feet away from downed lines and anything they fall on.
With the power out, some might turn to generators, but officials urge folks to only use a generator that has been properly connected to house wiring by a professional.
Generators should be run outside and at least 10 feet away from a building, with the exhaust facing away from the house.
Improperly installed or running generators can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
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