Status Updates

Friday, February 27 at 5 p.m.

• We have substantially completed restoration in all affected towns.
• Substantial completion means that 99% of customers are restored to power.
• We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers that is especially complex, challenging or require private electrician repair may continue past today.

Friday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m.

• Our expanded workforce is focused on substantially completing restoration today from Monday’s historic Nor’easter.
• As of 1:30 p.m., about 4,300 customers were without power. We are working to substantially complete restoration in Wellfleet and are on track to do so today. All other affected towns have reached substantial completion.
• Substantial completion means that 99% of customers are restored to power. We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging or require private electrician repair may continue past today.
• Since restoration began, we have restored more than 480,000 outages.

Friday, February 27 at 8:15 a.m.

• Our expanded workforce of field crews and support staff is focused on substantially completing restoration today from Monday’s historic Nor’easter.
• As of 8:15 a.m., fewer than 4,500 customers were without power, and we had substantially completed restoration in all but three towns (Orleans, Provincetown and Wellfleet). In many communities, we have substantially completed restoration ahead of schedule. We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored. See your town.
• Substantial completion means that 99% of customers are restored to power. We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging or require private electrician repair may continue past today.
• Remaining customers without power will receive one proactive message this morning through their channel of choice (email, text, phone or all three). These customers are also receiving job-specific estimated times of restoration as crews work on the repair job causing their outage.
• Since restoration began, we have restored more than 474,000 outages, including more than 454,000 by crews working in challenging conditions and about 20,000 restored in less than 5 minutes through our investments in automation and remote switching.
• We have substantially completed response to public safety priorities identified by our communities, with more than 1,660 restored and only six remaining as of 8:15 a.m.

Thursday, February 26 at 6 p.m.

• Our expanded workforce, numbering more than 2,500 utility crews, other personnel and resources, continues to restore remaining customers affected by this week’s damaging Nor’easter, with the total number of customers without power reduced to 26,519 as of 6 p.m.
• Since restoration began, we have restored more than 448,000 outages, including more than 428,000 by crews working in challenging conditions and about 20,000 restored in less than 5 minutes through our investments in automation and remote switching. Much of this restoration work has been accomplished since Tuesday morning, since punishing weather conditions and impassable roads prevented crews from making repairs in many areas during the storm’s duration on Monday.
• Yesterday, we announced town-level estimated times of restoration (ETRs) for the hardest-hit communities. Since that announcement, restoration work in multiple communities has reached substantial completion, which means that 99% of customers are restored to power. We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored. See your town.
• We’re strongly focused on fulfilling our commitments to the communities scheduled for substantial completion by the end of the day today. Our crews continue to work hard in all communities, and we are bringing customers back to power in all areas.
• As previously announced, the global ETR for substantially completing customer restorations in all areas remains 11:59 p.m. on Friday. Most customers will be restored before that time. Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging or require private electrician repair may continue past that time.
• Customers who remain without power will receive job-specific estimated times of restoration when crews arrive to work on the repair job causing their outage.
• Check on your outage.
• Call 211 for warming shelter information in your community.

Thursday, February 26 at 11 a.m.

Watch as our President of Electric Operations, Doug Foley, makes an update in Falmouth.

Thursday, February 26 at 8:40 a.m.

• Our expanded workforce of crews and field staff made great progress restoring customers overnight in southeastern Massachusetts, and we are focused on restoring remaining customers affected by the damaging Nor’easter.
• With a massive contingent of crews working around the clock and the use of automated technology, we’ve restored power to more than 388,000 of our customers.
• Yesterday we announced the town-level estimated times of restoration (ETRs) for the hardest-hit communities. See your town.
• Since that announcement, restoration work in several communities has reached substantial completion, which means that 99% of customers are restored to power. We will continue to work around the clock until all customers are restored.
• We’re strongly focused on fulfilling our commitments to the communities scheduled for substantial completion by the end of the day today. It’s important to note, though, that our crews continue to work hard in all communities, and we are bringing customers back to power in all areas.
• As previously announced, the global ETR for substantially completing customer restorations in all areas remains 11:59 p.m. on Friday. Most customers will be restored before that time. Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging, or require private electrician repair may continue past that time.
• We continue to work closely with communities to focus on key facilities that are still without power.
• Check on your outage.
• Call 211 for warming shelter information in your community.

Wednesday, February 25 at 9 p.m.

• Earlier today, we announced town-level estimated times of restoration (ETRs) for communities still without power. As previously announced, the global ETR for substantially completing customer restorations in all areas remains 11:59 p.m. on Friday (most customers will be restored before that time). Find your town.
• Good progress was made today on restoration work by our expanded workforce of crews and field staff, as they continue to navigate challenging access and travel conditions to focus on restoring customers in southeastern Massachusetts.
• Crews will continue to work overnight and during the days and nights ahead to complete the restoration process, concentrating on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging, or require private electrician repair may continue past that time.
• We continue to work closely with communities to focus on key facilities that are still without power, returning 101 critical facilities today.

Wednesday, February 25 at 2:30 p.m.

Town-by-town estimated times of restoration are now available. Find your town.

Wednesday, February 25 at 11 a.m.

Watch as our President of Electric Operations, Doug Foley, makes an update in Plymouth.

Wednesday, February 25 at 10 a.m.

• With a vastly expanded workforce of line crews, tree crews and other field staff, we anticipate a productive day of storm recovery work today, as working and travel conditions continue to improve in hard-hit southeastern Massachusetts.
• An additional coating to an inch of snow is forecasted in eastern Massachusetts today, but hazardous conditions are not expected and restoration work will continue.
• In addition to customer restoration, we are working closely with communities to focus on key facilities that are still without power, such as schools. All three hospitals affected by the Nor’easter have been restored.
• The majority of remaining outages are concentrated on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Plymouth and New Bedford areas.
• We expect to substantially complete customer restoration from the devastating Nor’easter by 11:59 p.m. on Friday. It’s important to note that most customers will be restored prior to that time.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex, challenging, or require private electrician repair may continue past that time. We will continue to work around the clock, as quickly as safely permits, until all customers are restored.
• We will provide community-specific restoration times to customers today. Again, it’s important to note that these times represent substantial completion in the community; most customers there will be restored earlier.
• Check on your outage.
• Call 211 for warming shelter information in your community.

Tuesday, February 24 at 6 p.m.

• We announced this afternoon that we estimate that 99% of customers will have power restored from yesterday’s devastating Nor’easter by 11:59 p.m. on Friday. It’s important to note that the vast majority of customers will be restored prior to that time.
• Restoration for a very small number of customers whose repair jobs are especially complex or challenging may continue past that time. We will continue to work around the clock, as quickly as safely permits, until all customers are restored.
• Work and travel conditions remain challenging today, with some roads still unplowed and impassable or very narrow.
• Still, our army of crews in the field have made strong progress responding to both community safety priorities and customer outages.
• We moved hundreds of additional crews into the hardest hit areas of Eastern Massachusetts this morning to respond to community safety priorities and restore customer outages caused by yesterday’s historic Nor’easter. The storm brought blizzard conditions, heavy, wet snow, and hazard-level wind gusts that made it impossible to safely perform restoration work in many areas yesterday.
• Today’s weather is clear and favorable for work. A coating to an inch of snow is forecasted in Eastern Massachusetts tomorrow, but hazardous conditions are not expected and restoration work will continue.
• The majority of remaining outages are concentrated on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Plymouth and New Bedford areas.
• Check on your outage.
• Call 211 for warming shelter information in your community.

Tuesday, February 24 at 11 a.m.

Watch as our President of Electric Operations, Doug Foley, makes an update in Yarmouth.

Tuesday, February 24 at 9:45 a.m

• We are moving hundreds of additional crews into the hardest hit areas of Eastern Massachusetts to respond to community safety priorities and restore customer outages caused by yesterday’s historic Nor’easter.
• The storm brought blizzard conditions, heavy, wet snow, and hazard-level wind gusts that made it impossible to safely perform restoration work in many areas yesterday.
• The Nor’easter has ended and today’s weather is expected to be clear and favorable for work. However, travel and working conditions continue to be extremely difficult in many places, with roads still unplowed and impassable or narrowed by snowbanks. Downed wires may also be buried in snowbanks.
• As travel and working conditions improve, our first priority will be responding to public safety issues and restoring critical facilities, as reported by our communities. We will respond as quickly as safety permits and are working closely with our state and community partners to identify the top-priority jobs.
• The majority of remaining outages are concentrated on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Plymouth and New Bedford areas. Restoration will take multiple days in these areas.
• Additional crews are coming to Eastern Massachusetts from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Western Massachusetts. We retain enough crews in those areas to address any outages that may arise.
• Check on your outage.
• Call 211 for warming shelter information in your community.

Monday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m.

As we begin the multi-day process of digging out from this storm, crews are positioned and ready to launch a strong, focused restoration effort as soon as conditions allow. As travel and working conditions improve, thousands of workers will begin clearing blocked roads, addressing critical facilities and assessing damage to support a safe and efficient restoration. Customers can expect to see restoration efforts ramp up overnight and into tomorrow as additional crews are deployed and access improves. Based on the extensive damage and difficult conditions, restoration is expected to take 3 to 5 days. We understand how frustrating and disruptive outages are, and we’re committed to restoring power as quickly and safely as possible. Customers in hard-hit and less densely populated areas may experience the longest outages as crews work to access these areas.

Updates:

• We’re beginning to assess damage. This helps us know what work needs to be done and what resources we need to do it. This is an important step to develop accurate restoration projections. Though we do not have estimated times of restoration yet, we will share them as soon as crews have a better idea of the full scope of the damage.
• With peak gusts exceeding 70 mph, the Cape and Islands region of the state experienced the most significant impacts, and strong winds are expected to continue in some areas through tomorrow.
• You may see a damage assessor come to your neighborhood and then leave — they are doing a critical job to prepare crews to make repairs.
• Despite difficult working conditions, more than 100,000 customers have had power restored since the storm began yesterday. Additional crews from out-of-state are arriving to assist with restoration efforts following this storm.

Safety:

• If you’re using a generator, make sure to turn it off while you are sleeping and when you are away from home. All equipment and appliances being powered by the generator should be turned off before the generator is shut down. More generator safety tips are available.
• Make sure to clear any snow, ice or debris that accumulates around vents, gas meters, regulator vents and any other outdoor piping.
• Stay away from any downed power lines and assume any wire you see is live. Call 911 and Eversource immediately to report it. 

We’ll continue working through the night and coming days to get your power back on as quickly as possible. Another update on our progress will be provided tomorrow morning.

Monday, February 23 at 4 p.m.

• A powerful Nor’easter that brought hazardous wind gusts, large quantities of heavy, wet snow, and blizzard conditions to all areas of Massachusetts today is expected to gradually wind down later this afternoon and evening. This storm has had a major impact on the electrical system in Eastern Massachusetts, especially on Cape Cod and the Plymouth and New Bedford areas.
• Heavy, blowing snow and gusty winds that created blizzard conditions, unplowed roads, and potential coastal flooding created unsafe travel conditions for much of the day, limiting Eversource’s ability to respond to community priorities and outages. Gusts of 81 mph have been reported on Cape Cod, 70 mph south of Boston, and 50 mph in MetroWest.
• As travel and working conditions improve, our first priority will be responding to public safety issues and restoring critical facilities, as reported by our communities. We will respond as quickly as safety permits.
• Eversource is making plans to move crews into hardest-hit Eastern Massachusetts from other areas of its service territory that saw less impact, including New Hampshire and Western Massachusetts.
• Many of these crews will be available to report to work tomorrow morning, and we are making plans for a strong, focused restoration effort when work and travel conditions improve. Crews will also be working on the system overnight.
• Snowfall totals are expected to reach or exceed forecasted amounts of 12 to 20 inches in Boston, MetroWest, South Coast, and Cape Cod and the Islands and 9 to 15 inches in Western Massachusetts, with locally higher pockets.

Monday, February 23 at 9:45 a.m.

Damaging winds and heavy, wet snow are bringing down trees and limbs onto the electric system, causing significant outages across the region. With strong winds reaching speeds up to 70 mph, and heavy snow continuing today, additional damage to the system is expected. The persistent hazardous conditions and difficult travel, as well as the necessary snow removal, will delay our crews’ ability to safely respond. Under these conditions, restoration could take 3 to 5 days depending on your location and the damage.

We understand how difficult an outage can be, especially in the cold, and we want you to know that as it is safe, we’ll work as quickly as possible to restore your power.

• A powerful Nor’easter, as forecasted, is bringing hazardous wind gusts, large quantities of heavy, wet snow, and blizzard conditions to all areas of Massachusetts today.
• Heavy, blowing snow, gusty winds, unplowed roads, and potential coastal flooding are creating unsafe travel conditions in the eastern half of the state, limiting our ability to respond to community priorities and outages. We will respond as quickly as safety permits. We ask for our customers’ and other stakeholders’ understanding during this period of peak impact.
• Our priority at this stage of the storm will be responding to public safety issues and critical facilities reported by our communities, as weather conditions and visibility permit.
• Gusts of 77 mph have already been reported on Cape Cod, 58 mph south of Boston, and 49 mph in MetroWest. Peak wind gusts could reach 55 to 70 mph in coastal areas, 45 to 55 mph in inland areas of Eastern Massachusetts, and 35 to 45 mph in Western Massachusetts. Winds at these levels can bring trees and limbs down on our electric equipment, causing outages. These elevated gusts are expected to continue into the early evening.
• Current snowfall forecasts are 12 to 20 inches in Boston, MetroWest, South Coast, and Cape Cod and the Islands; and 9 to 15 inches in Western Massachusetts. Pockets of higher totals are possible if bands of heavy snow develop.
• Snow began with a wet, heavy consistency in all areas. It is forecast to change to normal consistency for inland areas as the storm goes on, but remaining wetter in coastal areas.
• Stay away from any downed power lines and assume any wire you see is live. Call 911 and Eversource immediately to report it.

Sunday, February 22 at 12:30 p.m.

• We're continuing to prepare for the impacts of a powerful Nor’easter that is currently expected to bring hazardous wind gusts, large quantities of heavy, wet snow, and blizzard conditions to Massachusetts Sunday night into Monday evening. The highest snowfall totals and strongest winds are expected in coastal areas, but the storm has been tracking to the northwest and all areas of Eastern Massachusetts are likely to see significant snowfall and hazardous gusts.
• Peak wind gusts could reach 55 to 70 mph in coastal areas, 45 to 55 mph in inland areas of Eastern Massachusetts, and 35 to 45 mph in Western Massachusetts. Winds at these levels can bring trees and limbs down on our electric equipment, causing outages. The period of peak winds is forecast to be early morning through mid-afternoon Monday.
• Current snowfall forecasts are 12 to 20 inches in Boston, MetroWest, South Coast, and Cape Cod and the Islands; and 9 to 15 inches in Western Massachusetts. Pockets of higher totals are possible.
• Snow is generally expected to be of wet, heavy consistency, changing to normal consistency for inland areas as the storm goes on, but remaining wetter in coastal areas.
• The combination of snow, gusty winds, and potential coastal flooding in some areas may create difficult travel conditions, limiting Eversource’s ability to quickly respond to community priorities and outages, especially during the peak of the storm. We will respond as quickly as safety permits.
• Confidence in a significant storm is high, but specific impacts will depend on the storm’s track and could vary from the above forecast. Eversource continues to closely monitor forecasts

Saturday, February 21 at 10:40 a.m.

• We are preparing for the impacts of a powerful Nor’easter that is currently expected to bring hazardous wind gusts, large quantities of heavy, wet snow, and blizzard conditions to Massachusetts Sunday night into Monday. The highest snowfall totals and strongest winds are expected in coastal areas, but all areas of Eastern Massachusetts are likely to see significant snowfall and hazardous gusts.
• Peak wind gusts could reach 55 to 65 mph in coastal areas, 45 to 55 mph in inland areas of Eastern Massachusetts, and 35 to 45 mph in Western Massachusetts. Winds at these levels can bring trees and limbs down on our electric equipment, causing outages. The period of peak winds is forecast to be early morning through mid-afternoon Monday.
• Current snowfall forecasts are 12 to 20 inches on the South Coast, Cape Cod and the Islands; 9 to 15 inches in Boston and MetroWest; and 6 to 13 inches in Western Massachusetts.
• Snow is generally expected to be of normal consistency, but could be wetter in coastal areas.
• The combination of snow, gusty winds, and potential coastal flooding in some areas may create difficult travel conditions, limiting our ability to quickly respond to community priorities and outages, especially during the peak of the storm. We will respond as quickly as safety permits.
• Confidence in a significant storm is medium-high, but specific impacts will depend on the storm’s track and could vary from the above forecast. Eversource continues to closely monitor forecasts.