More than 174,200 customers in Massachusetts remained without power Tuesday evening following a massive nor’easter that brought high winds and record-breaking snow to Southern New England.
As of 11:30 p.m., 174, 216 customers across Massachusetts were without power, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. That number is down from about 240,000 customers who didn’t have power Tuesday morning.
Doug Foley, Eversource’s president of electric operations in Massachusetts, said additional crews were being brought in from New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts, and elsewhere to help restore power in these hardest-hit areas.
Eversource said Tuesday night that power restoration to its customer base won’t be complete until Friday, according to a statement.
“It will take days. It is a multiday restoration, but that is really for the last couple customers,” Foley said at a press conference on Tuesday in Yarmouth. “We’ll be restoring today, and that will continue for the next couple days, but the last couple customers, unfortunately, will be a couple days out.”
“This was a powerful and damaging storm, and our crews have been working around the clock as conditions allow to restore service safely,” Chris Laird, chief operating officer of National Grid New England Electric, said in a statement.
“We planned extensively for this event, staged crews ahead of time, and now we’re fully focused on a multi‑day restoration effort to get customers back online as quickly and safely as possible.”
Most of the power outages Tuesday evening were in Plymouth County, Cape Cod and the Islands, according to MEMA.
🚨 Response mode: ACTIVATED. Our New Hampshire crews are on the way to help power up the Cape 💪 pic.twitter.com/y4FekGnwNO
— Eversource MA (@EversourceMA) February 24, 2026
As thousands of customers in Massachusetts wait for power to be restored, crews are working to assess the damage and make necessary repairs.
Foley said two helicopters and drones are being used to help assess the damage, and additional snow removal equipment has been brought in so crews can get where they need to go.
“Our restoration philosophy is to do the largest circuits, to pick up the largest customers as quickly as possible,” Foley said. “But as we get into the neighborhoods and get into the backyards, it’s a little bit difficult for the crews to trudge through the snow, identify what’s wrong and make the repairs. So just the fact that we’re dealing with the wintry amount of snow that’s down here — 27, 30 inches of snow — it’s just going to take time for the crews to trudge through the snow and make those repairs.”
The strong winds and heavy, wet snow took down trees and damaged electrical equipment, and the drifting snow and poor visibility made it difficult for crews to get around during the storm.
The conditions on Tuesday were much better for crews to get work done, Foley said.
”We also are getting additional resources over to Martha’s Vineyard," Foley said. “We do have full-time employees over there, but we typically bring in additional contractors and tree crews to help out. And we’re working closely with the Steamship Authority to get some additional resources over there.”
Foley thanked customers for understanding as crews work to get the lights back on for everyone.
“We know how difficult it is not to have electricity, and certainly, a cold, wintry day here in New England is tough for all of us, and I appreciate their patience,” Foley said.
“We have everything we need to get the job done...with these type of conditions, the ability to get out and get our trucks there and get our crews into the backyards, it’s going to be difficult, but they’re up to the challenge, and I just want everybody to know we’re going to continue to work out until we complete our task.”
Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22. Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.