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National Grid Restores Power to 97 percent of Upstate New York Customers Impacted by Damaging Windstorm

Dec 13, 2021 - 7:00 PM

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Upstate NY

Storm Response

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National Grid crews have restored power to 212,000, or 97%, of the nearly 221,000 upstate New York customers impacted by the severe windstorm that caused significant and widespread damage across the region over the weekend. The storm brought gusts of up to 80 mph in some regions and left behind hundreds of broken utility poles, damaged transformers, toppled trees, tree limbs and downed wires.

“While we have made steady progress, there is still work to be done and our expanded field force will continue to work around the clock to ensure every customer’s service is restored as safely and quickly as possible,” said Matt Barnett, National Grid’s Vice President of New York Electric Operations.  He noted that the remaining outages are in regions that experienced the most extensive storm damage, including Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Orleans and Niagara counties in western New York, and Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties in northern New York.

“Our crews are in these regions continuing the hand-to-hand combat of cleanup, reconstruction and restoration. We understand the inconvenience of being without power and will continue to restore service hour by hour.” 

The company is providing the following regional estimated times of restoration for customers who remain without service after the weekend storm. Power is being consistently restored to customers in these regions and ETRs are updated on the company’s Outage Central site.  Additionally, customers can check on the power restoration estimate for their specific address by logging into our Report or Check an Outage page.

Northern New York: 95% of storm-related outages have been restored. Remaining single customer outages and isolated pockets of customers in the most severely impacted areas will be restored through the overnight hours and into Tuesday.

Western New York

  • Southwest Region, including Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties: Any remaining storm-related outages will be restored by midnight tonight.
  • Frontier Region, including Erie and Niagara counties: Restoration is expected to be complete by midnight tonight, with single customer outages and isolated pockets of customers in the most severely impacted areas being restored through the overnight hours and into Tuesday.
  • Genesee Region, including Genesee, Orleans and Monroe counties: This region experienced the most extensive storm damage. Crews are in the field restoring service hour by hour and 95% of customers in these areas will have service restored by 5 p.m. Tuesday, with the remaining customers in the hardest-hit communities seeing power restored through Tuesday evening.   

Customers who remain without power when their neighbors have been restored are encouraged to call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

Once restoration has been completed, National Grid crews will remain in the field for the days that follow to complete storm cleanup. The company reminds motorists to use caution as they approach work areas, to ensure the safety of utility and other storm-response personnel.

Stay informed and connected

  • Customers with active electricity accounts who text ‘REG’ to 64743 can have personalized alerts sent to them via text, email or phone call when we detect an outage on their properties.
  • Customers also can text ‘OUT’ to 64743 to report an outage.
  • For real-time power outage information, online outage reporting, and in-depth storm safety information, visit National Grid’s Outage Central website. Customers who create an online profile also can sign up for email alerts.
  • Customers can read the latest company news, check outage status and report an outage by using the National Grid app.
  • Visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com, follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook.

Electricity & Generator Safety

  • Never touch downed power lines; always assume they are carrying live electricity. Downed lines should be immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 or by calling 911.
  • Generators used to supply power during an outage must be operated outdoors to prevent the buildup of deadly carbon monoxide. Before operating a generator, be sure to disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker, located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could endanger our crews and your neighbors.
  • Customers who depend on electrically powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should register as a life support customer by calling National Grid at 1-800-642-4272. In a medical emergency, always dial 911.
  • Please use caution when driving near emergency responders and crews restoring power.

About National Grid

About National Grid: National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, friend us on Facebook, and find our photos on Instagram.

Media Contacts

Dave Bertola

Buffalo (Western NY)

(716) 831-7136

Send an email to Contact 1

Patrick Stella

Albany (Eastern NY)

(518) 433-3838

Send an email to Contact 2

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