State electric utilities Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating have restored electricity to 35 percent of their customers that were without power starting Sunday following Hurricane Irene, although more than 500,000 customers are still without power.
As of 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Berlin-based CL&P reported 419,304 customers were without power, roughly one-third of its total customers. The majority of the outages were in the southeast corner of the state, although every town CL&P serves had some customers without power.
UI reported at 10 a.m. Tuesday that 81,042 customers were without power, representing 25 percent of the utilities’ customers. UI is based in New Haven and serves customers in that region.
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CL&P estimates full restoration of its system could take a week or more, even though the company has crews working 24 hours per day. Part of the reason for the long restoration time is roads need to be cleared and lines must be free of all debris before the power is switched on.
