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October 30. 2012 11:58PM
PSNH line worker Dan Cowette re-connects wires ripped down by a falling pine on Proctor Road in Manchester Tuesday. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)
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Trick-or-treating, school on in Manchester
Some utilities predict when power will be restored to NH customers
PSNH line worker Dan Cowette re-connects wires ripped down by a falling pine on Proctor Road in Manchester Tuesday. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)
Trick-or-treating, school on in Manchester
Unitil and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative gave hard predictions Tuesday for when their customers would have power restored, while Public Service of New Hampshire avoided doing so, but said it could be another four days before most customers had power restored.
Officials made statements as crews scrambled to open roads and restore power in the wake of former Hurricane Sandy,
Early Tuesday evening, PSNH said it had 93,000 customers without power, down from a peak of 137,000 during the storm. During an afternoon telephone news conference, company President Gary Long said 75 two-man crews would soon be en route from Quebec, joining another 190 or so line crews already working on PSNH restoration efforts.
"With that help, we should be able to speed it up by a couple of days," Long said. But he said he did not want to give a firm estimate for fear it would turn out to be wrong. Restoration would take three to four days without the Hydro Quebec crews, he said.
Costs of restoration will be substantial, he said. "We're already over $10 million. Could it go over $20 million? Time will tell," Long said. Meanwhile, the Co-op said repairs of major lines, which offer restoration to large numbers of customers, should continue today and Thursday. Smaller disruptions will be addressed Friday, and substantial restoration will be completed by the end of the day Saturday.
Co-op crews were scheduled to work until 10 p.m. Tuesday, then take a mandatory eight-hour rest. When they resume work this morning, they will be joined by another 25 crews from Illinois, bringing the total number of Co-op crews to 92.
About 13,500 Co-op customers lacked power as of 5 p.m., down from a peak of 23,000 overnight Monday.
Unitil said it had 5,700 customers without power in the Seacoast and 1,200 in the Concord area as of 5 p.m. It said most will see their power restored by today, with isolated pockets and single customers without power into Thursday.
Long said about 80 crews have come from Texas and Louisiana to work. Also working on restoration are 89 two-person PSNH crews, 15 to 20 contract crews, 100 tree-trimming crews and 114 service workers.
Mark Hayward may be reached at mhayward@unionleader.com.
Officials made statements as crews scrambled to open roads and restore power in the wake of former Hurricane Sandy,
Early Tuesday evening, PSNH said it had 93,000 customers without power, down from a peak of 137,000 during the storm. During an afternoon telephone news conference, company President Gary Long said 75 two-man crews would soon be en route from Quebec, joining another 190 or so line crews already working on PSNH restoration efforts.
"With that help, we should be able to speed it up by a couple of days," Long said. But he said he did not want to give a firm estimate for fear it would turn out to be wrong. Restoration would take three to four days without the Hydro Quebec crews, he said.
Costs of restoration will be substantial, he said. "We're already over $10 million. Could it go over $20 million? Time will tell," Long said. Meanwhile, the Co-op said repairs of major lines, which offer restoration to large numbers of customers, should continue today and Thursday. Smaller disruptions will be addressed Friday, and substantial restoration will be completed by the end of the day Saturday.
Co-op crews were scheduled to work until 10 p.m. Tuesday, then take a mandatory eight-hour rest. When they resume work this morning, they will be joined by another 25 crews from Illinois, bringing the total number of Co-op crews to 92.
About 13,500 Co-op customers lacked power as of 5 p.m., down from a peak of 23,000 overnight Monday.
Unitil said it had 5,700 customers without power in the Seacoast and 1,200 in the Concord area as of 5 p.m. It said most will see their power restored by today, with isolated pockets and single customers without power into Thursday.
Long said about 80 crews have come from Texas and Louisiana to work. Also working on restoration are 89 two-person PSNH crews, 15 to 20 contract crews, 100 tree-trimming crews and 114 service workers.
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Mark Hayward may be reached at mhayward@unionleader.com.