In a press conference this afternoon at the Newport Marriott, Governor Raimondo provided an update on National Grid’s response to the gas outages in Newport Country. The Governor also shared several new developments regarding relief efforts for those impacted by the outages:
- Governor Raimondo directed DLT Director Scott Jensen to take action to allow Rhode Islanders who have missed work due to the outage to apply for unemployment insurance immediately. DLT has also waived the penalty to employers to ensure that no local employer impacted by the outage sees their unemployment insurance costs increase.
- Personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have arrived in the Emergency Operations Center in Cranston. Additionally, personnel from Massachusetts EMA (MEMA) arrived in Newport this morning. Both FEMA and MEMA are supporting Rhode Island’s relief efforts and bringing in additional resources as necessary.
Earlier today, Governor Raimondo announced that RIPTA is now providing free service on Aquidneck Island. National Grid will reimburse RIPTA for these rides. All the services being offered to impacted residents, including meals at the Florence Gray Community Center and service centers at Gurney’s and Gaudet Middle School, are accessible on RIPTA.
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National Grid suspended gas service to 6,800 gas customers Monday evening as a precaution due to a low transmission supply issue from our natural gas supplier—Algonguin Gas Transmission Co. Approximately 1,000 field and support personnel are on the ground assisting in the multiple-day restoration effort. Updates will be provided here when available.
4:00PM
We made significant progress last night and today to bring the gas system in Middletown back to full pressure and begin the final step of the restoration process—relights. As of this morning, 238 of 340 affected homes have been relit.
We have shut off more than 6,000 of the 6,400 meters in Newport, bringing the first phase of restoration close to completion in the heavily impacted town.
In order to provide information related to the gas incident and to complete the relight process, National Grid personnel will be going to door-to-door. As a reminder, every National Grid employee carries a photo ID card, and any contractor doing work for the company is also required to carry ID. If someone requesting entry into your home or place of business does not show an ID card, don’t let that person in and please call National Grid or your local law enforcement.
Our Community Assistance Vans are in the area with customer service representatives and our 24-hour Information Center at Gurney’s Newport Resort is providing space heaters with a limit of 2 per-household today .
