It’s National Preparedness Month – NSTAR is Ready, Are You?

BOSTON (Sept. 16, 2013) – September is National Preparedness Month and NSTAR is ready to respond to any damage and outages this year’s seasonal storms may bring.  With the height of hurricane season upon us and the recent history of major storms hitting our region, the company is also reminding customers to be sure they’re prepared for emergencies too.

“NSTAR is working to make the electric grid more resilient to storm damage, improve our storm readiness and enhance the lines of communication with our customers,” said Craig Hallstrom, President of NSTAR Electric & WMECo.  “As part of our year-round focus on emergency preparedness, we’re also working closely with state and local agencies to strengthen our partnerships during any emergency situation.”

Following the successful use of a mobile command center earlier this year during Storm Nemo, NSTAR purchased three mobile centers equipped with state-of-the-art communications equipment.  When needed, the company will deploy these units to significantly damaged areas to allow for localized control of its emergency restoration operations.  These new command centers can also be used to assist other Northeast Utilities companies, or while on mutual assistance missions to other utilities.

To further improve reliability and decrease restoration time, NSTAR regularly incorporates technological advancements into the grid, such as adding additional automated switches that can more quickly re-route and restore power.  This week, the company is also unveiling its new text message service for use before, during and after a major storm.  Customers and non-customers alike who sign up will receive storm updates, estimated times of power restoration, shelter location information and more.

Throughout the year trees are the number one cause of power outages, often tearing down electrical lines and toppling utility poles during severe weather.  In an effort to lessen the damage, NSTAR has a comprehensive vegetation management program to address street-side trees as well as those growing near high-voltage power lines that pose obvious threats to electric service reliability.  But even the healthiest trees can come down in a storm, so NSTAR reminds everyone to be on the look out for downed wires and to always treat them as live and dangerous.  Anyone coming across a downed line should stay clear and call the company at 1-800-592-2000.

NSTAR customers can report outages 24/7 by calling 1-800-592-2000 or visiting the outage information section on the company’s website:  NSTAR.com.  Town-by-town outage information is also available using the outage map in the outage information section.  It’s also important that families and businesses develop and rehearse an emergency plan and keep a storm kit stocked with essential supplies.  For tips, customers can visit:  Storm preparation tips.

NSTAR, a Northeast Utilities company (NYSE: NU), transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, including more than one million electric customers in 81 communities and 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities. For more information, please visit our website: www.nstar.com. Friend us on Facebook, facebook.com/NSTARmedia, and follow us on Twitter: @nstar_news.