04
Sep
On 8/4 Eversource mobilized State Electric’s storm restoration crews to their Hadley, MA Area Work Center (AWC) after Tropical Storm Isaias caused severe damage across the East Coast. After a few days restoring power from the Hadley AWC, our 9 crews comprised of 24 people were repositioned to the Pittsfield, MA AWC.
Shortly thereafter, on 8/7 Eversource redeployed our crews to the Torrington, CT AWC. Connecticut experienced even more damage than Massachusetts did with 685,000 outages statewide. So, after our work was done in Massachusetts, the crews headed south where there were still numerous customers in Connecticut still without power. Out of the Torrington AWC, our crews mostly worked in Northwestern Connecticut in Washington and New Canaan. Finally, after an arduous 11 days on storm, on 8/14 we were released and every one of our crews returned home safely.
One of the highlights from the trip was the celebration our team had for first-year line apprentice Derek Burnette’s first storm restoration efforts. They ordered a cake for him and Corporate VP Jon Koning presented it to Derek. After a short speech, it slid off the platter, flipped 360 degrees, only to land in the parking lot right side up. Jon subsequently told Derek that it is a good omen for a safe and happy career. We also want to recognize Dave Ransom for his continued exceptional performance, still working and climbing poles at 70 years old! We would like to thank Dave for his many years of service and how he has been a great leader and mentor to everyone on State Electric’s storm crews.
At State Electric, safety is always our number one priority and with the current COVID-19 pandemic, additional measures were put in place to ensure our worker’s health and wellness. Along with the thousands of people in Massachusetts and Connecticut whose power was restored by our team, we would like to thank our crews for their outstanding work and staying safe during these long 11 days!
Additionally, after attempting to mobilize our crews in response to Hurricane Laura, the number of power outages down south were not high enough to warrant bringing in Northeastern storm crews. However, on Friday 8/28 our crews mobilized again to Eversource’s Newtown AWC after a system passed through causing 40,000 outages in the area. Our team worked a total of 1,120 man-hours until demobilizing on Sunday 8/30. We are in the midst of a record busy Atlantic hurricane season that’s just entering peak time, so our crews are always ready to mobilize wherever we are needed. As always, safety in every step!
