NHPR Reporters Todd Bookman and Olivia Richardson contributed reporting.
As thousands of Granite State households enter a third day without electricity following this week's nor'easter, Eversource's president of New Hampshire operations, Doug Foley, said power restoration for customers is nearly complete.
In an interview, Foley said warmer temperatures that melted snow and continued plowing by towns have made it easier for workers to reach downed power lines.
"We’re finishing up," Foley said.
Foley said he expected Eversource crews to clear all blocked roads by Thursday afternoon and that power should be mostly restored for Granite Staters by Friday afternoon.
Utility workers from around the region had arrived in New Hampshire in recent days to assist with the wide-ranging power outages left in the wake of Tuesday’s storm.
As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, roughly 12,000 Eversource customers remained without electricity, down from a peak of more than 60,000 Wednesday.
The storm dumped heavy, wet snow on southern and western regions of the state, with more than a foot of snow falling in many places. Some towns in the Monadnock Region recorded more than three feet of accumulation.
New Hampshire Electric Co-op said its outages peaked early Wednesday with approximately 16,000 households affected.
"All told, we took damage to our distribution system in more than 200 locations," said Seth Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Co-op.
In Londonderry, some people headed to coffee shops after they lost power Wednesday morning. Chloe Jones at The Nest Family Cafe said some people stopped by to charge their phones and get connected to the internet, but the crowd also included a lot of regular customers "stopping in as they normally would on a Wednesday."
In Keene, Public Works Director Kürt Blomquist said they had most of their power restored as of Wednesday afternoon — with about 400 households still without electricity. But nearby in Chesterfield and Surry, many residents were still waiting for power, and town officials were considering supplying warming shelters to residents.
Resources
- Eversource: Report/check a power outage here, or text STAT to 23129 to get power alerts and restoration times. Customers can also call 800-662-7764, or view outage map
- New Hampshire Electric Co-op: Call 800-343-6432 to report an outage, or check outage dashboard
- Unitil: View outage map, or call 888-301-7700.
- Liberty Utilities: View outage map, or call 1-855-349-9455
