Published 12/12/2008 
Johnson, VT –Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) deployed line crews to assist New Hampshire and southern Vermont utilities this afternoon to restore power to thousands who have been hit hard by a large winter storm that arrived in New England on Thursday night.

 VEC joins electric utilities from as far away as Ohio and Virginia by sending workers and equipment to provide aid to New England utilities struggling to restore service to approximately one million customers.  By late afternoon, ten VEC crews will be repairing broken electric poles and downed wires in territories served by Central Vermont Public Service, Green Mountain Power and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. 

Mutual aid agreements and reciprocal assistance are common in the electric utility industry and provide critical resources during emergencies. Companies receiving aid typically provide reimbursement to those that provide assistance. 

Vermont outages numbered more than 28,000 at their peak today and were caused primarily by ice and wet snow causing damage to power lines and trees. 

VEC members received between 5 to 12 inches of snow, but as of noon had no outages to report. While northern Vermont escaped the extreme damage caused by the storm, other areas were not so fortunate. With temperatures expected to drop to single digit numbers tonight, fast power restoration is critical. 

“When other electric utilities requested assistance, VEC employees and contract crews were sent home to pack their bags and prepare for a three to five day restoration effort,” said Jeffery Wright, Chief Operations Officer. “In this business, we depend upon mutual aid. Sometimes we are on the receiving end. This time it is our turn to help.”