Last Night’s Heavy Snow Caused Significant Additional Damage Statewide
Colchester, VT – An army of Green Mountain Power crews and hundreds of contract crews continue to make progress through the night tonight and into this morning restoring power to tens of thousands of Vermonters. As the first light breaks on the Green Mountain State, Vermonters are getting their first full glimpse of the storm’s impact on our state. Last night’s second round of snow caused significant additional damage statewide lengthening outages times and making it difficult for GMP experts to predict when the power will be back on. GMP would like to once again extend its sincere appreciation to the public for their patience and understanding as we work, around the clock to get the lights, and heat back on.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, crews have restored power to more than 70,000 customers across the GMP service territory since the first outages beganTuesdayafternoon. Crews had reduced the outage numbers to about 12,000 lateWednesdayafternoon, but the second wave of the nor’easter knocked out service to thousands more customers even as repairs were being made, leaving 22,000 without power earlyThursdaymorning.
“We know that this is a difficult time for the Vermonters who are impacted by this storm making travel impossible in places and knocking out power causing some to lose heat,” GMP spokesperson Dorothy Schnure said. “With the help of hundreds of contracted lineworkers and tree cutters, we have replaced dozens of poles and removed hundreds of trees and will continue to work as hard as we can until the power is back on for all Vermonters.”
Road conditions, including road closures, have also make restoration efforts difficult. In some places, GMP is using track vehicles to access downed lines and poles. And Schnure said some of the repairs have required extensive efforts, including one outage in Londonderry that required six lineworkers to work 22 hours to repair. The crews faced broken poles, tangled wires and massive downed trees to make the repair, which restored power to 2,800 customers in the towns of Londonderry, Andover, Weston, Landgrove, Windham, Winhall and Peru.
GMP is once again urging the public to put safety first and travel only if necessary in areas where road conditions are poor. If you encounter a downed line, always stay clear of the line and report it to GMP right away. Emergency personnel should also be contacted. Shelters have been opened up in some of the hardest hit areas. To locate the shelter nearest you, call 211. In addition, GMP encourages the public to check in on elderly neighbors as the storm enters its third day, it’s critical that we ensure the safety and warmth of those around us.
As the storm restoration progresses, GMP will keep customers updated through Facebook, Twitter and media announcements. As we mentioned, the multi-day nature of this storm is making restoration predictions particularly challenging especially while we are still experiencing more outages from downed trees. We appreciate the public’s understanding at this time. Customers may sign up for text service to report outages and get updates. Simply text REG to 46788 or GMPVT, or sign up online atgreenmountainpower.com/textalerts. As always, customers may report outages by calling1-888-835-4672, or visiting GMP’s Outage Center page atwww.greenmountainpower.com.
About Green Mountain Power
Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 265,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and has a vision to be the best small company in America by partnering with Vermonters to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP is the firstutility in the world to get aB Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability andtransparencystandards and committingto use business as a force for good.In 2014, Vote Solar named GMP a Solar Champion.More information at:www.greenmountainpower.com. Connect with GMP on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @GreenMtnPower.