Rhode Island Energy restores power to all customers following September nor’easter (Rhode Island Energy)

Rhode Island Energy said Monday it has restored power to more than 50,000 customers who lost service during the weekend nor’easter, finishing in under 48 hours.

The utility deployed more than 270 crew members and field personnel across the state. Wind gusts reached 55 mph, bringing down trees and limbs onto power lines. Crews responded to more than 270 vegetation-related outages and over 150 calls about downed wires, and replaced 20 broken poles.

The hardest-hit communities were Scituate, South Kingstown, Cumberland and Coventry, the utility said.

“Despite challenging weather conditions and substantial damage across the state, our crews worked around the clock to restore power safely and efficiently,” said Joe Curley, vice president of electric operations.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...