When will the power come back on Cape Cod? Town-by-town restoration times, per Eversource
When will the power come back on Cape Cod? Town-by-town restoration times, per Eversource
Utility crews brave the elements to bring power along Salt Marsh Rd.
Extensive power lines down along Salt Marsh Road in East Sandwich as utility crews from Indiana go pole to pole to bring back the electricity
Three days in, and the lights are still out for many Cape Cod residents.
The Feb. 23 blizzard knocked out power to tens of thousands across the region, and while restoration is steadily progressing, many communities remain in the dark. At the peak of outages, more than 150,000 Eversource customers were without power.
On Feb. 25, Barnstable County officials reported about 94,000 customers without power across the Cape. By 10 a.m. Feb. 26, outage numbers had dropped to about 54,712 customers on Cape Cod and 759 on Martha’s Vineyard. According to National Grid, Nantucket had 1,289 affected customers.
The map Eversource has created to track the outages tells two stories on Cape Cod. In sheer numbers, Falmouth had the largest group of people still waiting for power — 10,383 customers — on Thursday morning, followed by Barnstable with 8,427.
But in smaller towns, the impact is more sweeping. In Wellfleet, 98.71% of customers remained without electricity, meaning nearly the entire community was still in the dark three days after the storm. In Brewster and Orleans, more than half of customers were still without power.
Eversource reported that utility crews, some who have traveled from other states to help out, continue working around the clock. The region-wide estimated time for “substantially complete” service restoration remains 11:59 p.m. Friday.
For some Cape Cod communities, the wait may stretch another 30 to 38 hours, according to Eversource’s latest estimates updated as of 8:40 a.m. on Feb. 26.
According to the power company, thousands of crews are working as quickly as safety allows to restore service.
“As crews arrive on-site to make repairs, individual restoration estimates are being provided” directly to customers, the company said, and detailed information is also available on the outage map.
“Restoration estimates may change as damage continues to be assessed and crews work on repairs,” the company stated.
Customers are advised to prepare for continued outages in neighborhoods where storm damage and access challenges remain.
Town-by-town restoration estimates
Eversource provided the following town-by-town estimated restoration times as of 8:40 a.m. Feb. 26. The company notes that “substantially complete” means 99% of customers in that town have power restored.
Mashpee was already listed as “substantially complete,” along with Edgartown and West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard.
On Cape Cod
By 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27: Bourne, Chatham, Orleans, Provincetown.
By 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27: Eastham, Falmouth, Sandwich.
By 11:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27: Truro.
By 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27: Barnstable, Brewster, Dennis, Harwich, Yarmouth, Wellfleet.
On Martha’s Vineyard
Chilmark by 4 p.m. and Oak Bluffs by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.
On Nantucket
National Grid estimated that Nantucket’s remaining customers without power would see restoration by 10 p.m. Feb. 26. Their outage map, updated every five minutes, can be found online at www.nationalgridus.com/MA-Home/Outage-Central/Outage-Map
Eversource updates its list periodically as well. It can be found online at https://www.eversource.com/residential/outages/estimated-times-of-restoration.
Heather McCarron, hmccarron@capecodonline.com, writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable, Brewster and Falmouth.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.