Eversource says fewer people have lost power this year, cites system improvements

Eversource says 25 percent fewer customers in New Hampshire experienced power interruptions this spring and summer compared to the same period in 2016, which Eversource attributes “in large part” to more tree-trimming and spending on new equipment such as stronger poles.

The leading cause of power outages in New Hampshire is trees and limbs falling onto power lines.

Eversource said it has spent $41 million for tree trimming throughout the state in 2017.

“Since the start of 2017, Eversource tree crews have completed trimming along more than 1,550 miles of overhead power lines in New Hampshire, and the company plans to complete about 2,800 additional miles of trimming before the end of the year,” the company said in a press release.

Eversource said that it has spent “more than $250 million on upgrades” that make New Hampshire’s transmission and distribution system smarter and more resilient when severe weather strikes, including installing stronger poles and covered wires, adding automated equipment at substations and “smart switches” to better pinpoint the source of an outage and reroute power as needed, and “reconfiguring and rebuilding power lines to create redundancy on the energy grid.”