Eversource says power restoration on Cape Cod will take days after Blizzard of 2026

The day after the Blizzard of 2026, more than 176,000 customers are still without power in Massachusetts. The outages peaked in the state at about 290,000 on Monday.

Cape Cod and the South Shore were some of the hardest hit areas, leaving residents without power or heat.

For 82-year-old Brian Ridgeway in Falmouth, he's getting by and trying to stay warm with his fireplace. "It's our only source of heat but it's nice," Foley said. 

Eversource says "multi-day restoration"

Now that the Blizzard of 2026 is over, crews are working around the clock to restore services. On Tuesday morning, 93% of Falmouth remained without power.

"It will take days, it is a multi-day restoration but that is really for the last couple customers," Eversource director of operations Doug Foley said. "We will be restoring today and that will continue for the next couple days."

Eversource estimates nearly all customers affected by the storm will have power back by Friday at 11:59 p.m. The utility company said service will be restored to the vast majority of customers before then. 

In Downtown Falmouth, every store is closed and remained without power on Tuesday. Many streets were covered in snow and impassable like Lantern Lane where Ridgeway lives.

"We have no power and no heat, no source of heat we are lucky we have nice neighbors like the Ridgeways to keep warm," his neighbor Alison Leschen said.

Falmouth High School, which is running on a generator, has been turned into a temporary warming station and a place for people to charge their phones. "It's helpful otherwise we are charging phones with our cars and eventually you start running out of gas," Adam Sanderson said.

Micheala Carter will eventually head back home and try and stay warm. "With candles and our animals, we bundle up with blankets and stay warm with smiles on our faces," she said.

Substations caked in ice after blizzard

Line crews, tree crews and damage assessment teams are spread throughout Cape Cod working feverishly and safely to turn the lights back on. It's a Herculean task as substations remain caked in ice.

"We brought in specialized equipment and a crew, it's essentially a pressure washer and they're able to clean off the ice and the caked-on snow on our equipment so we can get that energized," Foley said. "But today the conditions are great for a lot of good activity and repair activity."

Which is great news for Brian Ridgeway who is currently using his backyard deck as his temporary freezer. "It's been tough to make it through," he said.