UI Collaborates With All 17 Municipalities on Emergency Response and Restoration Ahead of Peak Hurricane Season

Company liaisons discuss roles and responsibilities between the company, municipal leaders, and first responders during severe weather and widespread power outages


ORANGE, Conn. — August 1, 2024 — In preparation for the peak Atlantic hurricane season in Connecticut, which spans from late August to October, United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), conducted emergency response and outage restoration review sessions across all 17 towns and cities within its service area. These sessions were led by the company’s Key Account Managers (KAMs), who work directly with city leaders and first responders to establish a robust framework for when UI enters storm activation mode. The meetings addressed each municipality’s restoration priorities, provided an overview of Make Safe Functions and the company’s restoration strategy, established points of contact, and explained UI’s Utility Protection Zone (UPZ) program.

“By dedicating time to working one-on-one with our local municipalities, we can build stronger relationships to ensure we meet their needs and expectations during severe weather events,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of UI. “We understand the significant impact storms have on our customers, which is why it’s crucial for our community partners to be well-equipped with the necessary tools and resources to communicate effectively with us during outages. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with our local towns and first responders to strengthen our processes and procedures, not just during storms but year-round, to better serve our residential and business customers.”

To ensure that municipalities within UI’s service area are well- prepared for an active hurricane season, KAMs hold annual meetings with leaders in all 17 UI towns as well as first responders. During the sessions, KAMs review the following topics:  

  • Storm Activation 
    • Event level classification, breaking down event parameters, expected customer outages, and restoration times.   
  • Restoration Priorities 
    • Priority 1: Roads cleared, fallen wires de-energized, restoration begins for top 10 municipality priorities, and Make-Safe Crews deployed. 
    • Priority 2: Restoration of substations and transmission lines.  
    • Priority 3: Restoring the distribution system from the largest outages to the smallest. 
  • Contact Information 
    • Emergency numbers, emails, distribution lists, storm advisories, outages and storm alerts. 
  • Make Safe Functions 
    • Prevent harm to the public by making an area safe, by de-energizing downed wires, clearing roadways to make them passable.    
  • Make Safe Crews 
    • One Make Safe crew per municipality, coordinating with the towns’ departments of public works. 
  • Municipal Liaison Responsibilities and Roles 
    • Liaison team consists of over 60 individuals from across the organization and are responsible for facilitating communication between UI and municipal partners. 
  • Vegetation Management (UPZ) 
    • Year-round work is being done through the UPZ program to establish and maintain vegetation from ground to sky around utility poles to reduce power outages rated to storms.


“It’s imperative that we have a solid process in place between our organization, local town leaders, and first responders so that we can quickly and efficiently respond to outages and downed power lines within our service area,” said Chuck Eves, Vice President of Electric Operations at UI. “Time is of the essence in many of these scenarios, and knowing the exact locations where we need to begin dispatching our crews is extremely helpful. This allows our team at the Emergency Command Center to take the necessary steps to make areas safe for both the public and our frontline workers as they assess the situation. We can then decide on the next steps for deploying additional crews and resources to work more efficiently to restore power to our community.”

During severe weather events in Connecticut, UI employees take on the responsibilities of a previously assigned storm role, regardless of their responsibilities in their blue-sky role. This means employees may be assigned roles within the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) that differ from their regular duties. Many UI team members become Municipal Liaisons, whose role involves directly coordinating with town and city officials during severe weather to resolve power-related issues in their communities, such as power outages in critical facilities (e.g., hospitals or nursing homes). 
“It is important to us to be prepared to respond to storms and any hazards in our service areas,” said Jennifer Pearce, Vice President for Reliability Assurance and Emergency Management at Avangrid. “That means we continually evaluate and analyze our current processes to improve our emergency operations and preparedness plans. Our industry is constantly changing as we battle climate change, which is why we’ve invested in emergency preparedness to ensure everyone stays safe as we restore power during severe weather events.”

Throughout the year, to help municipalities and state legislators better understand the processes and procedures UI follows widespread outage events, KAMs are hosting tours of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). These in-person tours provide visitors with a better understanding of how the EOC serves as a central command and control operation by collecting and analyzing data and disseminating emergency duties to frontline workers.

“We fully support the efforts of United Illuminating in meeting with us to review the process of responding to severe and inclement weather, especially ahead of hurricane season,” said Milford Mayor Anthony Giannattasio. “Their preparedness and proactive measures are vital in ensuring the safety and well-being of our community during emergencies. Our shoreline community is not immune to these disasters and having a plan in place is crucial to the safe and efficient restoration of power in the City of Milford.”

In anticipation of severe weather, UI is encouraging all customers to register for UI’s outage alerts. The Outage Reporting System allows users to report outages online or via their mobile devices and receive up-to-the-minute status reports on storms and outages. For more information on how to sign up for outage alerts, please visit, https://www.uinet.com/outages/stayinformed/outagealerts. 

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