BERLIN, Conn. – August 30, 2011 – In the first two days following Hurricane Irene’s impact on Connecticut, CL&P has restored power to over 500,000 customers. Even with that significant progress, over 354,000 customers remain without power as of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30.
“We’ve made good progress today working with the state and towns and realize there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Jeff Butler, president and chief operating officer, CL&P. “We understand how difficult the loss of power is on all our customers and appreciate their patience. Many of our employees working this restoration are also customers who are returning to homes without power.”
As of this afternoon, 900 line and tree crews were working across the state with additional crews arriving daily. By Friday, we expect to have nearly 1,200 crews working to restore power to CL&P customers, making this the largest single contingent of crews in Connecticut history.
Tonight, we've begun providing restoration estimates by town. Estimates will be available first for towns on the western side of the state where damage was less severe and assessments were completed more quickly.
Over the next 48 hours, we will focus first on working with the state and towns to restore power to critical customers including schools, waste water treatment plants, communication facilities and other town priorities. In the hardest hit towns, we’re also focused on restoring town centers, which will be critical in providing people with important services.
For your safety, CL&P also reminds customers to NEVER touch a downed line and stay at least 10 feet away from all wires. Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous. Call 9-1-1 immediately with any emergency condition. If you are using a generator, make sure it has been installed properly and never use it indoors or in partially enclosed spaces.
To report outages or check the status of an outage, visit cl-p.com or call 800-286-2000. Our automated phone and online systems can rapidly process your report and help us speed restoration efforts. For helpful tips and news updates, go to our website at cl-p.com, follow us on Twitter @CTLightandPower and like us at Facebook.com/CTLightandPower. You can also get updates on outages in your town by texting “outage” and your zip code to 24612 (texting fees may apply).