Good progress was made Tuesday to restore power to the many Granite State residents impacted by the high winds and rain of Hurricane Sandy. An estimated 80,000 Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) customers remained without power at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30^th, compared to 24 hours prior, when 137,000 customers were reported out at the height of the storm. Crews will continue working throughout the night to restore power.

The greatest percentage of customers still without power is in the Southern region, including the Town of Derry and surrounding towns. Crews reported numerous trees down, and spent much of the day assisting municipal workers in the safe clearing of roadways. A comprehensive assessment of damage and the work to be done were ongoing during the day, in order to plan how to most effectively make repairs and restore power to all customers.

PSNH Community liaisons are in frequent contact with single point-of-contacts in each towns, and are providing answers to questions regarding the restoration effort. While detailed restoration times are not yet available, we understand how hard it is to be without power, and we will continue to work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to all customers.

 Hydro Québec Joins Effort – There are currently about 290 PSNH and independent line working and tree trimming crews – each two man crews – focused on the restoration effort. In addition, more than 100 service personnel are working to speed up the process of safely reattaching damaged service wires to homes. On Wednesday, we expect a convoy of crews from Hydro Québec to arrive and to help in the effort in both the North Country and the Southern Region.  Hydro Québec is working to provide 75 two man crews, accelerating what has been projected to be a multi-day restoration effort.

 Hurricane Sandy’s impact has resulted in the fourth highest number of customers without power in PSNH’s 86-year history, with the five largest storms all having occurred in the past four and half years. Overall, Sandy has affected more than 8 million people from Maryland to Maine.

While the restoration effort is underway, PSNH is urging customers to use extra caution around downed wires and tree limbs, and when using a generator:

Customers should never touch a downed wire, and assume any downed line is live and dangerous. Downed lines should be reported to PSNH immediately at 1-800-662-7764.

Customers using generators should make sure they are installed correctly-for their own safety, as well as that of line workers. A generator should only be attached to the house wiring and completely isolated from the utility supply. Without proper isolation, power that is being generated through the home could also feed into the PSNH electrical system, causing an unsafe situation for both line workers and neighbors. Please take care when installing a portable generator. For more generator safety tips, visit http://www.psnh.com/stormsafety/

PSNH's call center is fully staffed and fielding customer calls. If a customer loses power, it is important they report their outage once to PSNH. Customers can report outages by calling 1-800-662-7764 or through www.psnh.com. Opportunities for the media to observe the call center in action may be available. Interested media should contact PSNH Media Relations for more information.

Staying Informed - During major power restoration efforts, PSNH uses a variety of communication tools to keep the public informed. Customers can follow PSNH on Twitter @psnh or on Facebook for real time updates. PSNH also uses a news blog, www.psnhnews.com, to post press releases, outage updates, and other important storm related information. Customers can also access PSNH's outage map to see up to date outage information about their community.