The communities we serve depend on us for a constant supply of gas and electricity. This is especially true in adverse conditions, such as the severe ice storm that affected our service territory in upstate New York and New England this winter.

Over the course of 8 days in late December, more than 7,400 workers, including forestry crews, mutual aid workers, contractors and support staff across all lines of business, worked around the clock to restore electricity to more than 550,000 customers. States of emergency were declared in Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire in what has since been called the most significant ice event to hit the northeast US in a decade.

Employees battled against unrelenting elements as ice in excess of an inch (25mm) thick, heavy winds, and falling trees downed lines making work very challenging. Despite this, the restoration was completed within a matter of days.

Even after the last customer’s power was restored, our interest and involvement continued as employees donated $230,000 (£149,000) to the American Red Cross to support its relief efforts in those storm ravaged areas.

The sheer enormity of the storm was matched only by the scope of work performed by our employees to safely restore power to affected homes and businesses:

• 550,000 customers interrupted at peak;
• 1,252 miles (2,014 kilometres) of transmission lines out of service;
• 911,370 feet (277,785 metres) of distribution wire damaged;
• 285,834 storm related phone calls handled; and, most importantly,
• injuries sustained were minor in relation to the scope of the storm.

The level of dedication and professionalism displayed by our employees clearly demonstrated ‘the power of action’. Their efforts were well received by both members of the public and public officials in New England and New York as expressions of thanks and appreciation poured in.