National Grid has restored service to 98%, or 105,700 of the 107,700 western New York customers affected by the historic multi-day blizzard that brought hurricane-force winds and more than 50 inches of heavy, wet snow to the region. The company’s field force of nearly 3,000 line, service, tree, damage assessment and public safety workers will remain on the ground and continue to partner with state and local agencies to gain access to the remaining damage so that repairs can be completed.
“This is one of the worst storms to ever impact the region and it has caused significant damage to the electricity system, including downed wires, damaged transformers, and broken poles, along with multiple frozen substations in the City of Buffalo,” said Matt Barnett, National Grid’s Vice President of Electric Operations. “We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as roads continue to be cleared and our crews gain access to damaged equipment in need of repair. For those customers who are still without power, please know that our restoration efforts will continue until the last customer impacted by this brutal storm has their power restored.”
Most customers without service this evening live in the City of Buffalo, where the storm hit hardest and road crews continue snow cleanup and removal. Because electricity for many of these customers is delivered from poles and wires in their backyards, restoration is labor- and time-intensive. It requires line workers to manually carry repair equipment into snow-covered rear lots that can’t be accessed by utility vehicles.
A list of warming centers can be found by clicking on the warming shelter icon on National Grid's Outage Central map.
As a reminder, power is being consistently restored to customers in the region and ETRs are updated on the company’s Outage Central site. Additionally, customers can check on the power restoration estimates for their specific addresses by visiting our Report or Check an Outage page.
Customers who remain without service when their neighbors have been restored should call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.
Restoration for remaining customers without service in the hardest hit areas of Erie and Niagara counties is estimated to be complete by 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. National Grid will do everything within its control to complete restoration as quickly and as safely as possible.
