Community Corner

The United Illuminating Company Reports More Progress

Estimated Restoration Times Discussed

The United Illuminating Company (UI), electric subsidiary of UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE: UIL), is continuing to make noteworthy progress on storm restorations.

In a press release posted this afternoon, the company stated: "We are pleased to announce that we were able to beat our estimate of restoring 25,000 customers on Monday. We want to express sincere thanks to our customers for their patience and resolve during this regional challenge."

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the company had 82,985 customers who were without power. To date UI has restored 52 percent of the customers who were left without power as a result of Hurricane Irene. 

Find out what's happening in Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The strategic placements of tree trimming and line construction crews have allowed us to make significant progress in restoring power to all customers,” said Anthony J. Vallillo, UIL’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Without that strategy, it would have delayed our ability to put more customers back in service.”

“We certainly understand that customers immediately want estimated restoration times and can become frustrated when they are not provided,” added Vallillo. “It was important to actually complete an assessment of the damage first and to give realistic timeframes. To provide times that were not based on known conditions, wasn’t the best course of action in our judgment.”

Find out what's happening in Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hurricane Irene left a distinct mark on the UI service territory. Crews that performed an initial assessment of the 3,000-mile distribution system and 140,000 poles identified approximately 1,500 to 2,000 trees in need of clearing, 450 sections of electric wire that needed to be replaced and a minimum of 103 poles in disrepair.

UI service territory covers 335 square miles and damage was essentially identified across that entire service territory. The company expects to find even more damage to poles, trees, wires and equipment as it works through the full restoration process. 

“It’s barely been 48 hours and we knew the magnitude of damage was significant, but the numbers here are astonishing,” said James P. Torgerson, CEO of UIL Holdings.  “I want to personally thank all of the electric and natural gas employees who have assisted in this effort. Virtually all UIL employees are involved in some aspect of restoration.” 

The company now has crews from Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Indiana. Current crew’s statistics are listed below:     

208 crews:  

  • 88 overhead line crews;
  • 59 tree-clearance crews;
  • 29 patrol crews; and
  • 32 service crews.

While there continue to be downed trees and other challenges to overcome, Tuesday will bring momentum in restoring customers. Now that much of the assessment is complete, crews know which circuits to target.

On Wednesday, the company expects to provide more information on estimated restoration times.

Editor's Note: At 12:26 p.m., Orange was down from 4,842 (77%) without power to 4,573 (73%). Currently, at 2 p.m. the total number of Orange customers without power is down to 4,414. (Now, that's progress!)


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