Out-of-state crews ready to assist National Grid in power restorations
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Over 200 National Grid crews were on standby Tuesday afternoon to restore power as Tropical Storm Isaias made its way through New England.
Thousands were left without power across Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and National Grid said they prepared days in advance to make sure they had enough resources to help with Isaias’ impact.
“When we saw things developing prior to the weekend, we started putting plans into place, reaching out to our mutual aid,” said Ted Kresse, spokesman for National Grid in Rhode Island.
Kresse said dozens of crews were called in from other states and even Canada to assist in power restoration across New England.
“We’ve got quite a force in place here already. Here in Rhode Island, we’ve got over 150 external crews. A lot of those folks are coming from Tennessee, they’ve already arrived in Providence, and then across New England, we’ll have other crews coming in from different parts of the country as well as Canada.”
At the Marriott in Providence, bucket trucks filled the parking lot as crews from Tennessee waited for the storm to pass. The men and women made the trip up on Monday.
Kresse said, in total, there are over 200 crews ready to help restore power to the state: 160 for power, and 75 forestry crews to help with tree damage.
National Grid crews are staged at CCRI and Twin River and will make their way into neighborhoods as the winds die down.
“Obviously the storm has to come first, and then the storm has to subside before we can really do restoration. We can’t have our guys and gals up in the buckets when winds are over 35 MPH,” said Kresse. “The possibility of high winds could strike at any minute, so we’re just continually monitoring it, being cautious and keeping an eye on things, and when it does subside we’ll be ready to get to work.”
National Grid will work to restore power throughout the night if needed.
Click here for a look at current power outages across the state. To report an outage to National Grid, call 1-800-465-1212.
© WLNE-TV 2020
