Storm Clean-up Continues

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BERLIN, Conn. - June 23, 2012 - Despite difficult working conditions overnight, crews from Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) made good progress in restoring power across its service area.

As of 10 a.m., approximately 5,000 CL&P customers are without power, down from a peak of more than 37,000 customers last night at 6 p.m. Crews from CL&P's sister company, Western Massachusetts Electric Company, worked with CL&P crews last night, and this morning additional help from United Illuminating was brought in.

"We appreciate the efforts of our crews, who were working overnight in difficult weather conditions," said Jim Muntz, CL&P President and Chief Operating Officer. "In the first 12 hours of the storm we restored 35,000 homes and businesses. We are grateful for the patience of our customers as we work to restore power to the entire system as quickly and safely as possible."

CL&P expects restoration for the vast majority of customers to be complete by 6 p.m. Harder-hit locations, such as the Torrington area, are expected to be restored by midnight tonight. Unfortunately, today's forecast includes the possibility of weather that could cause more damage. This could delay restoration efforts, particularly if lightning accompanies today's weather.

Restoration projections are being entered into CL&P's customer information system as they become available. Customers can check on the status of their outage by calling 800-286-2000 or by visiting cl-p.com.

Yesterday's storm primarily affected the northern half of Connecticut. Towns with storm damage that still have significant outages include Canterbury, Cornwall, Lebanon, Litchfield, Scotland, Sharon and Windham.

CL&P continues to remind customers that downed wires can still be energized. Stay at least 10 feet away from all wires. Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous. Call 9-1-1 immediately. If a power line falls on your vehicle while you're inside, stay there. Don't touch anything outside the vehicle and wait for emergency crews.

Do you have a generator? Before operating it, make sure it has been properly installed by a licensed electrician. Improperly installed generators can feed electricity back into power lines and pose a deadly situation for our workers. Always operate generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide hazards.

To report power outages, CL&P customers should call 800-286-2000. Our automated phone system rapidly processes your report and helps us speed restoration efforts.

For helpful tips and news updates, go to our website at cl-p.com, follow us on Twitter @CTLightandPower and like us at Facebook.com/CTLightandPower. You can also get updates on outages in your town by texting "outage" and your zip code to 24612 (texting fees may apply).