Oct. 15--Joining a growing trend among businesses and government agencies, Cape Cod's electricity distributor is now tweeting and posting information on two popular social networking Web sites.

The utility announced yesterday that it will now use Twitter and Facebook as additional resources to get information to customers.

Twitter users monitor each other by writing and reading short -- no more than 140-character -- posts from the mundane to the profound. Facebook, old hat for most computer users under 30, allows for more expansive entries, including photographs and interactive discussions.

The new online tools are intended to supplement and not replace other interactions between NStar and its customers, company spokesman Michael Durand said yesterday.

"If folks have not called us to tell us the power is out, that's the first step," Durand said.

The company has a sophisticated system that tracks where repair calls come from so it can prioritize work to get power back on in case of outages, he said. The company's Web site also will continue to function as a way to report outages and have power turned off and on, Durand said.

During major storms, however, customers -- if they have a battery-powered computer or Internet capability via cell phone -- can keep up with the company's activities through tweets and Facebook postings, Durand said. The company also will announce information about products and services through the sites, he said.

The first tweet the company issued yesterday announced the availability of a $50 rebate on the purchase of a new refrigerator. The company had garnered three fans on its Facebook page as of yesterday afternoon.

To follow NStar's tweets, search for NStar_News on Twitter. To receive the company's Facebook postings, customers should add themselves as a fan on the NStar Electric & Gas page.

NStar is the first Massachusetts-based utility to use the social networking sites, according to a statement from the company. The company transmits electricity to 1 million electric customers and delivers gas to 300,000 customers in Massachusetts.

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