PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said the weekend storm likely caught National Grid Rhode Island flatfooted, as nearly 70,000 Rhode Islanders remained without power through Tuesday morning.
The storm, which started Saturday night, originally knocked out power for roughly 154,000 Rhode Islanders, exceeding those counted after Superstorm Sandy. About 1 million people were affected from New Jersey to Maine.
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“It caught a lot of people off guard with how quickly it came on,” Raimondo told reporters during a media briefing Tuesday morning. “[National Grid] was probably caught a little flatfooted because it happened faster and it created more damage than anyone expected.”
The first-term governor hasn’t yet involved the R.I. Emergency Management Agency, and says she doesn’t think it’s necessary at this point. But she’s been communicating with National Grid, urging the state’s largest utility company to reconnect Rhode Islanders to the electric grid.
“I know these are tough conditions, but I’m going to hold [the company] accountable,” she said, adding that she asked National Grid to better communicate with the public.
The utility, a subsidiary of London-based National Grid PLC, held a conference call Tuesday morning and released a statement saying crews had been working throughout the night to remedy the outages.
“This was a very intense storm with extensive damage and our crews will be working around the clock to restore power to our customers,” said Dan Bunszell, vice president of New England operations at National Grid.
Raimondo said she expected about 35,000 more Rhode Islanders would have power restored by the end of the day Tuesday.
As of midday Tuesday, Providence County was the area with the most affected customers totaling about 30,000. National Grid counted 19,756 affected customers in Kent County and another 14,180 in Washington County.
Warwick had the greatest number of power outages of any municipality, totaling 8,625 customers.
Raimondo is also urging Rhode Islanders celebrating Halloween to trick-or-treat using caution. She’s asking candy-seekers to avoid all downed power lines, and to avoid streets with no power.
The governor said she would continue to put pressure on National Grid until all power was restored.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on Grid,” she said. “I know it’s hard, but they need to get the job done for Rhode Island.”
As of 12:40 p.m. National Grid Rhode Island has an estimated restoration time of 11 p.m., Nov. 3 for every Rhode Island county. Bristol County Massachusetts had a listed estimated restoration time of 8 a.m. on Nov. 3. However, on National Grid’s Twitter, the company said it expects to have power restored to rural areas by Wednesday, Nov. 1.
— National Grid US (@nationalgridus) October 31, 2017
More information on power outages and restoration times can be found at National Grid’s website.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
The electrical feeder lines in our communities took weeks to build as new and when they get smashed to the ground by wind and fallen trees in a major storm, the Governor wants them to be put back together in one night? The utility personnel want this over and done with more than anyone else. Let’s be realistic.