National Grid responds to damage, outages after storms

NORTH COUNTRY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- National Grid workers remain active in repairing damage and restoring service following the severe winter storm Friday night. The storm that brought heavy, wet snow to eastern and Northern New York overnight has crews working in the challenging weather conditions, as they were pre-positioned for rapid response.

National Grid reports they've restored power to 54,000 of the 79,000 customers affected by storm damage through 11 a.m. on Saturday. Patrick Stella works for the Upstate New York Communications office for National Grid, and he says that crews have been working since last Friday night to restore power.

"We've been slowly restoring power to those customers," he said. "I think overall we have about 20,000 customers that are out in the north country."

Essex, Warren, and Washington counties in the Adirondacks and eastern New York, and St. Lawrence county in northern New York were the hardest hit regions, according to the company.

“Public safety is our top priority as our field force restores service and repairs the
widespread power line damage across the region,” said Matt Barnett, National Grid’s Vice
President of New York Electric Operations. “The weight of the snow caused damage to our
transmission and distribution systems, and many of these points are located in difficult to reach
areas off roadways and in remote or wooded areas.”

Customers of National Grid are also reminded they can see expected power restoration times online on their website, and can also notify the company of a power outage online as well to expedite restoration.

Stella is also advising those who use a generator for their home.

"If you are running a generator, we ask that you turn the main power breaker in your home off when operating a generator," Stella said. "If you don't do that, then you run the risk of running power back into the lines that the crews are trying to work on. And that can be a dangerous situation."

National Grid says its first priority is to ensure the safety of its customers and crews by
clearing away dangers such as live, downed power lines. Followed by repairs to main transmission facilities, including towers, poles, and high-tension wires that deliver power to thousands of customers. Recovery work at local substations also is a high priority, followed by repairs to neighborhood circuits, transformers, and service wires.