National Grid Hopes for More Progress Tonight

National Grid crews have worked around the clock to restore power to residents, and company officials are assuring Chelmsford that great progress has been made and will be made tonight.

"Since the storm's peak, we've restored power to approximately 200,000 customers," said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts.

The company currently has about 220,000 customers in Massachusetts without power.

"We have about 2,500 workers in our communities clearing trees and restoring the power systems," Reed said. "I expect we’re going to make great progress tonight, and I’m hoping to have power back to about half of the customers that we currently have out [by morning]."

Asked what she has to say for , Reed said the crews are doing their best.

"Everyone is weary of sleeping under extra blankets and in shelters... I do know this, I completely understand," said Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. "However, this storm was historic in proportions, and even after the massive efforts taken, it requires long hours of hard work."

And at this phase of that work, things move slowly in certain communities. That's because now it's a matter of repairing lines street-by-street.

"This means we’re now into the phase of restoration that is most difficult," Reed said. "It can take hours to restore service to a handful of customers."

National Grid has made

There have been reports of Chelmsford residents re-gaining power on Meadowbrook Road and Mount Pleasant in North Chelmsford. However, the power outage reports are still plenty, including parts of North, South and East Chelmsford.