• Gas Outage Resources

  • For the 425 businesses in our community who were impacted by the Natural Gas Outage in January, we have compiled a list of the resources available as you continue to seek financial recovery.

    Since the outage, many of you now have a better idea of your true, overall losses and may wish to reevaluate what assistance to pursue. Help is still available!

    Each of you were impacted in a different way, and there are multiple resources to choose from. You should decide what combination of the following is right for you...

    1) A claim through your own insurance:

    Every business will have a unique policy, and you should consult with your agent to determine your coverage.

    Stay tuned: The Chamber is working the Small Business Administration (SBA) to hold upcoming workshops with business owners about insurance claims and policies, to help you determine what is best in the future and whether you have the proper coverage.

    2) A reimbursement claim through the National Grid:

    The claim form is the same for residential and business, and can be found here:

    https://www.nationalgridus.com/Aquidneck-Island

    Details about the claims process can be found on the back of the form. For additional information about what will and will not be covered, please contact the National Grid directly.

    3) A loan from the RI Commerce Corporation ‘State Emergency Loan Fund’:

    While a number of other loans are available from the RI Commerce Corporation, this is a specific loan fund put together for this outage. Click on 'Emergency Loan Fund' for application info:  https://commerceri.com/financing/

    “The fund will offer emergency loans of up to $25,000 to eligible businesses with no payments and no interest for the first six months. Credible insurance claims and/or claims in accordance with National Grid’s business reimbursement policies for affected businesses will be required as collateral for these emergency loans.”

    4)  Small business loan from the RI Commerce Corporation:

    Click on 'Small Business Loans’' for more information: https://commerceri.com/financing/

    5) A grant from the National Grid – NO LONGER AVAILABLE 

    Through a large effort undertaken by the National Grid and other partners, they have committed to establishing a $500,000 fund that will issue need-based grants. Administered by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Rhode Island.

    Visit: http://rilisc.org

    6) Low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA):

    As a result of the work of the RI Commerce Corporation, the Governor’s Office, the Small Business Administration, the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, and information provided by the local business community, a state of emergency was declared in relation to the natural gas outage disaster and additional funds were made available. Application filing deadline is November 15, 2019:

    https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/

    https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/Declarations/Index

    7) Unemployment:

    If your employees missed shifts or lost hours as a result of the gas outage and would like to file for unemployment, they may do so at anytime:

    http://www.dlt.ri.gov/ui/

    If you feel that something is missing from this list, please contact us so that we may update it:

    Call (401) 847-1608 or email us at: info[@]newportchamber.com

    If you have any questions, or need assistance, please contact the Chamber. Alternatively you may call the RI Commerce Corporation’s Small Business Hotline at (401) 521-HELP Even if your question is not directly pertaining to a source of funding from the RI Commerce Corp, they will be able to point you in the right direction.