Line crews working through the night made steady progress in restoring service to thousands of Green Mountain Power customers, even as new outages occurred and added to the challenges left by a series of violent storms Wednesday afternoon and night. As of 7:30 am Thrusday, Green Mountain Power crews have restored power to approximately 11,000 customers, with 650 customer outages still to be restored.
â Broken poles, downed trees and intense rain and lightning are among the obstacles crews dealt with overnight,’said GMP spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure. â Despite hundreds of new outages in the early morning hours, our crews are quickly bringing back service to the affected areas. We have been able to clean up problems in most areas of our service territory, with remaining problems concentrated in Chittenden County, which was hit particularly hard, and scattered problems in Caledonia, Addison and Washington counties.
â Acting as one team right from the start was a big factor in our ability to restore power quickly. Weâ ve been able to move crews from across the new combined service territory to the hardest hit areas,’Schnure said. â At this point, the most of the outages left are the more isolated incidents that take longer to restore, but we expect to complete the bulk of the restoration by noon, with all wrapped up by the end of the day.â
The latest outage data for all Vermont utilities is available at www.vtoutages.com.
Green Mountain Power encourages customers still without power to call 1-888-TEL-GMPC (1-888-835-4672) to ensure that all outages are reported and restored. Customers may also report outages on-line at www.greenmountainpower.com.
GMP offered several safety tips for coping with the outages:
STAY AWAY FROM DOWNED POWER LINES. Don't touch or even go near downed wires! These wires can be energized and can cause serious injuries or death. If the line is blocking the road or in contact with a vehicle with people inside, call your local police or fire emergency number first. Then call GMP. Instruct others to keep at least 50 feet away, and keep pets and livestock away as well.
Assume all objects touching the power line are also energized. Never attempt to remove trees or limbs from any utility lines! Notify GMP of the situation.
If using a generator, read and follow the owner's manual before starting the generator. Never operate a generator inside any structure or near a structure. Use a transfer switch to ensure electricity is not accidentally fed onto a line where line crews must work.
Keep freezers and refrigerators closed as much as possible to prevent food spoilage.
If power goes out, turn off all electrical appliances except one light so you'll know when service returns. Then, turn equipment back on slowly.
VEC Crews Restoring Outages
Johnson, VT- Approximately 800 Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) members in Chittenden County remained without power on Thursday morning as a result of powerful thunderstorms that caused severe damage in several parts of the VEC service territory on Wednesday afternoon and evening. High winds and heavy rainfall caused trees to uproot and fall on power lines resulting in widespread damage to the VEC system.
VEC line workers and tree crews have been working throughout the night and will continue until mid- to late-morning when full outage restoration is expected. Early Thursday morning, outages remained in the following towns: Hinesburg, Huntington, Richmond, Shelburne, St. George and Williston.
Electricity has been restored to about 2,500 VEC customers. The severe Fourth of July storms also impacted VEC members in Grand Isle County, Lamoille County and other areas of the VEC territory.
For more information please visit www.vermontelectric.coop/outage.
GMP, VEC 7.5.2012