 In 2011, a surprise October snowstorm left 420,000 National Grid customers without electricity far too long. The company needed to restore more than just power. Its entire reputation was at stake. National Grid was battling an image as slow and out of touch. It hadn't communicated well, and it was far down on the U.S. Utility Reputation Index. And so, an urgent initiative was implemented to bring communications up to 21st century standard. Then, Superstorm Sandy roared up the coast toward National Grid's territory. The company set up an incident command center and put a public information officer in charge. For the first time, the company's communication leaders synchronized their efforts. With the power out again, Sandy gave National Grid the opportunity to demonstrate its new approach in real time. The company quickly deployed a new preparedness narrative, providing in-depth media access to crew staging locations. It carefully quantified its response, including crew and supply numbers and restoration times. Photos and videos of staging areas and command centers were pushed to earned and owned media. In New England, the company quickly saw validation of its efforts as communities came back online. However, for 1.1 million customers in parts of New York City and Long Island, the restoration was far more challenging. Sandy had rendered many homes and businesses uninhabitable. In these hardest hit neighborhoods, the response shifted to bringing in emergency supplies and communicating individualized customer responses. Through the worst fury of nature, National Grid showed itself as a company of action that cared about those it served. Since the 2011 snowstorm, it set its communications back on track. It used technology to better share valued information about power restoration, and it used face-to-face, high-touch communications to show it understood the personal impact to those hardest hit. National Grid restored more than just power. It restored faith in the company.