Parts of city to lose power for upgrades

NASHUA – The hills will go dark tonight.

French Hill and Crown Hill residents will lose their power briefly as Public Service of New Hampshire works on a nearby substation, a company spokesman said.

A power outage is planned for 11:45 p.m. tonight, and it should last until 12:30 a.m. Sunday, PSNH spokesman Martin Murray said. About 2,200 customers will be affected, he said.

“The lights will go out,” Murray said. “But for only a relatively brief time: 45 minutes.”

The company will be doing work on its Bridge Street substation. The work is part of a $1.75 million project to upgrade aging transformers and other electrical equipment, Murray said.

PSNH notified its customers via mail about the outage, he said. “So the clocks might be blinking; VCRs blinking,” he said.

The company chose the near-midnight hour to make it convenient for customers, Murray said. The backup date is 3 p.m. on Sunday.

If it should rain or snow and that date is employed, luckily for sports fans the New England Patriots do not play until later that evening. The Pats look to extend their new winning streak in an 8:30 p.m. home game against the Buffalo Bills.

“There’s nothing worse than cutting into the big game,” Murray said. “We’ll avoid that.”