By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — Some downtown merchants say they’ll be filing claims for business losses with National Grid after a transformer meltdown robbed them of power for a period of nearly 24 hours spanning two days.

“We’re planning to,” said Stephanie Jamil, a co-owner of Liberty Market, located at 95 Main St. “We lost about $2,200 worth of frozen foods and ice cream.”
Jeff Polucha, the city’s economic development director, said the affected businesses were notified recently that the company had established a process for filing claims for losses caused by what he called “a very unfortunate and unpredictable event.” The claims process can be initiated by calling the Waltham, Mass.-based utility company at 1-781-907-3930. Polucha said merchants with questions may also call the Economic Development Office at City Hall, 762-6400.
National Grid said some 3,000 customers in Woonsocket and North Smithfield were affected when two transformers located in an underground sidewalk vault on Main Street malfunctioned on Sept. 2, at about 9 p.m.
For most customers, the loss of power was relatively brief, but for about a dozen others, including The Call, the power was not restored until nearly 7 p.m. the following evening, according to Polucha.
Even businesses where power was restored comparatively quickly suffered significant losses in some cases because Main Street was blocked off to motor vehicle traffic while utility crews made repairs, Polucha said.
Alda Cooke, the owner of the Main Street Cafe, estimated her losses to be at least $1,700. She said she is still taking stock of her losses and intends to file a claim with National Grid when she is finished.
Such was the quirky nature of the outage that some businesses on Main Street, like The Cakery, operated with full power while their immediate neighbors were totally blacked out.
“These were my losses,” said Sarah Gauvin, the owner of the pastry shop, holding her hands together in the shape of a giant goose-egg. With all the walk-in traffic and the commotion from the outage, last Thursday turned out to be “a pretty good day,” she said.
It was a different story at The Call, however, where publication of last Thursday’s editions simply didn’t happen – at least not on Thursday – marking one of the few times in the paper’s history where the daily failed to materialize. The Call published two editions on Friday, including a late Thursday paper, both of which were printed with the help of the Worcester Telegram.
Call Publisher Barry Mechanic said the paper is still evaluating its losses as a result of the power outage and may file a claim for reimbursement with National Grid
“We’re looking into that also,” said Mechanic. “We’re still trying to evaluate the impact the outage had on us.”
Business owners suffered a variety of losses as a result of the outage, according to Polucha, who canvassed the neighborhood after the power went out. While diminished  sales and spoiled foodstuffs appear to have made up the majority of the losses, Polucha said the owners of Ye Olde English Fish & Chips believe the burnout of some electric motors on food preparation equipment was caused by the outage.
Debbie Drew, a spokeswoman for National Grid, said business owners must call the claims line in order to initiate the process of seeking reimbursement for losses. A recording          will ask claimants to leave an assortment of contact information, including an address and a telephone number. Within a few business days, callers will receive a claim form in the mail, which must be filled out and returned to the company for evaluation.
Claimants should include “any types of receipts” or other supporting documentation, said Drew.
“An adjuster will take a look at it and be in touch with them,” she said. “I don’t think it’s any more burdensome than any other claims process. It usually takes a few weeks.”
Drew said the outage was the result of the failure of two transformers in the sidewalk vault adjacent to The Call, at 75 Main St. Drew said the failure of the transformers also “caused a problem” with the underground cable that serves customers on Main Street. Drew did not say what the problem was, but members of the Woonsocket Fire Department said they responded to the transformer malfunction to extinguish a series of fires in the vault.
The following morning the sidewalk was littered with severed cables pulled out of the fire, wrapped in housing that  melted into black char and smelled like burned rubber.
Drew said National Grid crews have been working in the Woonsocket area for weeks to upgrade such infrastructure, but she said the transformer malfunction had nothing to do with the ongoing work.