‘Emergency power outage’ planned for downtown Brockton Tuesday night into Wednesday, officials say

BROCKTON, Mass. — Several streets in Brockton’s downtown area will be without power Tuesday night into Wednesday to repair an underground cable, the city’s emergency management agency said Tuesday.

National Grid “needs to take an emergency power outage for downtown Brockton,” the Brockton Emergency Management Agency said in a Facebook post. City residents were also alerted to the planned power outage through a reverse 911 call on Tuesday morning.

The power outage will start at 10 p.m. Tuesday and last until approximately 7 a.m. Wednesday, the agency said.

In a statement Tuesday, National Grid said crews “will be making emergency repairs to underground infrastructure in Brockton that was damaged Friday by a non-National Grid contractor.”

“To make the repairs as safely and quickly as possible, an emergency outage impacting approximately 450 customers will occur from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. in certain areas of downtown Brockton,” the statement said. “National Grid has been working with Brockton officials and appreciates their cooperation and the patience of our customers as we make these needed repairs.”

The outage will include the following locations: portions of Main, Crescent, L, Elm, School, Montello, Commercial, Center and High streets, VFW Parkway, Warren Avenue, and Legion Parkway.

“Residents and businesses should prepare for an extended overnight power outage,” the Brockton Emergency Management Agency said in its post.

Restaurant owners like Sandra Martin spent Tuesday scrambling to find a generator now that a big portion of downtown Brockton won’t have power overnight.

“Today I didn’t even prepare more than what I normally would have because of the short notice, I knew everything would have spoiled overnight, wasn’t sure if I was getting a generator, which thankfully we do have a generator coming, which will help us to save a lot of our product,” said Martin, who owns Elvera’s Café in downtown Brockton.

Martin says she learned about the emergency outage from an automated phone call around 11 a.m.

“To last minute have a phone call, there’s no way to really prepare for an issue like this that obviously needs to be addressed, but it would have been better if we had better communication,” said Martin.

Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan says his office is working closely with National Grid to ensure the effect on residents and businesses is minimal.

“We realize that tonight’s power outage poses an inconvenience to residents and businesses,” said Sullivan. “The investigation into the cause of the damage is ongoing.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency offered the following guidelines to stay safe during a power outage:

• Keep freezers and refrigerators closed.
• Stay fire safe. Do not use a gas stove or candles to heat your home.
• Unplug appliances and electronics to avoid damage from electrical surges.
• Make a plan for refrigerating medicines and powering medical devices.
• Go to an alternate location to stay warm or cool, if safe to do so.
• Keep mobile phones and electronic equipment charged before a power outage.

Anyone with questions about the planned outage may call National Grid at 800-322-3223, Brockton officials said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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