Below is a letter from Frank Reynolds, United Illuminiating’s president and CEO, sent to customers following Tropical Storm Elsa and a week of scattered, severe thunderstorms.

Good evening—

From scattered, severe thunderstorms earlier in the week to Elsa today, this week has been a challenge and testament to the importance of preparedness. With Elsa behind us, we want to thank you for being prepared and thank our lineworkers for their hard work.

Throughout Elsa, we restored power to 9,600 customers across our service area. Outages were caused primarily by toppled trees and debris falling on power lines and utility poles. Our teams prepared in advance, bringing in support from around New England and pre-staging in locations across our service territory to respond quickly when outages occurred. That planning proved successful.

Thank you for being prepared along with us! You created storm kits, kept electronics, generators and cars charged or fueled, secured items from blowing away and stayed home when you could. Many of you also stayed in touch with us, which really helps. Thanks to all who are subscribed to outage alerts via our mobile app, text alerts and website as well as those who follow our Facebook and Twitter to stay in-the-know. Please continue being safe, as we’ve seen summer storms can pop-up at any time and be potentially severe. Our app is always available to download in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Our lineworkers braved the torrential downpours and strong winds to restore power safely and quickly as soon as interruptions occurred. They work under incredibly challenging conditions year-round—from storms like Elsa to frigid winter storms and more, often making personal sacrifices—missing holidays, birthdays, celebrations and more. Too often, their families are left with an empty seat at the dinner table.

Please join us in thanking all lineworkers for their work this week and always, especially since tomorrow is National Lineworker Appreciation Day. We’ll be celebrating them on our social pages tomorrow with #ThankALineworker. If you’re on social media, feel free to join us and make it special for them, using the hashtag, #ThankALineworker.

Our customers, and your satisfaction with the service we provide, is the central focus of all we do every day. We appreciate you.

Thank you,

Frank Reynolds

CEO and President,

United Illuminating, an AVANGRID company