UI Expands Restoration Effort, Updates Restoration Estimates

With 80K customers restored, National Guard, Central Maine Power and out-of-state contractors boost field presence to 800+ personnel

ORANGE, Conn. — August 7, 2020 (4:00 p.m. EDT) — United Illuminating, subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), announced Thursday that it has restored a total of 80,000 customers as it continued to expand its restoration effort with the arrival of additional crews and contractors, as well as National Guard assistance. Meanwhile, the company said it has updated its online Outage Map and Outage Alert system with restoration estimates for individual customers.

The estimates reflect the company’s informed assessment of when each customer’s service will be restored, based on the information available, and is subject to change. Customers can find the general location of outages affecting their area by visiting the Outage Map at uinet.com, and can find the restoration estimate by clicking on an outage location. For information about specific addresses, they can sign up for Outage Alerts, or download the company’s mobile app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

“We understand customers’ frustration and we thank them for their continued patience as our crews work safely to restore services from the destruction caused by this storm,” said UI President and CEO Tony Marone. “Today, we were able to ramp up significantly with the arrival of contractor crews from as far away as Wisconsin and Tennessee, joined by crews from UI’s sister company, Central Maine Power. This expands our ground presence from approximately 600 to 800 field personnel. We are also grateful to Governor Lamont for making National Guard personnel and equipment available to assist us. Together, we will continue to safely and aggressively work our restoration plan until every customer has power.”

The 24 members of the Army and Air Force National Guard arrived Thursday with three heavy trucks to help clear roads of debris so UI crews can access and repair damaged power equipment.

UI reported significant progress getting customers’ power back on. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, three days after the region’s biggest storm since Hurricane Sandy, the company had restored approximately 80,000 customers. With approximately 43,000 customers remaining without service, the company is on track to meet its stated goal of restoring service by the end of Saturday to a majority of those customers who were without service as of Wednesday morning.

The company, however, said some customers will remain without service, and restoration efforts will continue until the end of Monday as the company addresses smaller and more complex outage events.

The company reminded customers to stay far away from downed wires, which can be live and dangerous even if they show no signs of being energized. Customers are advised to keep kids and pets inside, and never drive over a downed wire. Always report any downed wires to UI at 800.722.5584 (800.CALLUI).

Report an Outage:

To report an outage, visit uinet.com or call 800.722.5584 (800.7.CALL.UI). Customers can also report outages using the company’s new mobile app, available from the Apple Store and Google Play. Or, they can report outages via UI’s mobile alerts system: text “OUT” to 839-884 (TEXT-UI). Registration is required.

Outage Alerts:

Sign up for free Outage Alerts at uinet.com to be notified by text, email or phone when you lose service and for restoration updates. Or, sign up for free text alerts by texting “REG” to 839-884 (TEXT-UI).

Additional Information:

Storm relief resources can be found by calling Connecticut’s InfoLine at 2-1-1, or by visiting www.211ct.org.

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