Friday, March 8, 2013, 2:30 p.m.
CL&P continues to respond to outages from heavy snow, wind
Operational Status: EMERGENCY MODE
CL&P has activated its Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority.
· CL&P is responding to approximately 6,300 customers without power, caused by pole accidents, heavy snow and high winds. The largest outages are in Clinton, East Haddam, Branford, Essex and Deep River.
o The vast majority of customers without power associated with this storm are expected to be restored by early evening today.
o There are about 185 “trouble spots,” locations where repairs need to be made.
o We have restored approximately 15,500 customers since 9 a. m. Thursday, March 7.
· Snow, rain and rain/snow mix will continue to diminish this afternoon into this evening. There may be additional snow accumulations. Sustained winds will be 10 – 20 mph, gusting 30 – 35 mph at times. Winds will remain at hazard levels through early evening. Black ice may be a hazard issue as melted snow refreezes. Saturday and Sunday weather will be sunny with highs in the 50s.
· Customers are encouraged to report power outages by calling 800-286-2000, or visiting www.cl-p.com.
SAFETY
· There have been no safety incidents to date.
· Safety First and Always: employees have been notified of the following safety messages:
o Use caution when working in slippery conditions
o Work Sites: Hazard identification and control
o Safe Driving: Clear vehicle of snow, slow down, and keep a safe distance from other vehicles.
· It is extremely important that our customers stay away from downed wires and anything the wires may be touching. Customers should call 9-1-1 to report them and protect others from harm. Additional safety tips on downed wires and more can be found here: http://www.cl-p.com/Home/Safety/Safety/?MenuID=4294984945
STAFFING/RESOURCE PLANNING (numbers are approximate)
· CL&P Line Crews: 127 crews (254 workers) working
· Contractor Line Crews: 38 crews (76 workers) working
· Tree Crews: 150 crews (300 workers) available; 30 crews (60 workers) working
· CL&P Employees: All remain prepared for or deployed to storm duty, including patrollers, wires-down guards and Town Liaisons.
COMMUNICATIONS
· Customer Care has responded to 29,920 calls as of 1 p.m. today, with an average speed of answer of 4 seconds.
· No municipalities have requested a Town Liaison for support. The Community Relations team is actively working with their municipalities, including preparing street-by-street outage reports for harder-hit areas.
· Media interviews have been held this morning and early afternoon with local media, including Channels 3 and 30; we have been posting Facebook and Twitter updates for customers today.
OPERATIONS
· CL&P’s operational status is Emergency mode: Conditions exist that are currently causing, or pose an imminent risk of causing damage, customer outages or both, to varying degrees of severity.
· The CL&P Emergency Operations Center in Berlin is fully staffed at this time.
· All work continues to be dispatched as normal from the Berlin System Operations Center (SOC). Madison and East Hampton have been “decentralized” to focus on local area restoration.