Power Outages Now Under 200,000 In Mass.
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — The state's electric utilities say they are making progress but more than 195,000 homes and businesses remain without power after last weekend's nor'easter.
National Grid reports Wednesday that more than 117,000 of its customers are still in the dark. Chelmsford, Westford, Worcester and Northbridge are among the communities with the highest percentage of outages.
Western Massachusetts Electric Co. is reporting that more than 74,000 of its customers are without electricity, with Agawam, Longmeadow and Ludlow among the hardest hit.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports.
NStar said more than 3,000 of its customers don't have power. Unitil has less than 100 outages.
Gov. Deval Patrick expressed his frustration with the power companies on Wednesday.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports.
Podcast
"People are losing their patience and so am I frankly," Gov. Patrick said. "The utilities are just going to have to step it up."
At the height of the weekend storm that dropped more than two feet of snow on some parts of the state, more than 670,000 customers were without power.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports on the outages from Springfield.
Podcast
(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)