NSTAR: Back Bay power to be restored Thursday

BOSTON (WHDH) -- NSTAR said customers would get their power restored sometime later on Thursday, not stating a definitive time.

Utility crews worked overnight Wednesday into Thursday to restore power to customers still in the dark following a transformer fire in the Back Bay which took nearly 21,000 customers offline on Tuesday night.

Crews ran cables -- up to two miles long -- from 50 trailer-sized generators. In many areas, the cables had to be buried in trenches to prevent damage from traffic. NSTAR says the process proved to be more complex than anticipated, pushing back their timeline once again.

“For the public that’s coming into town, just be aware that we still ask them to proceed slowly through the Back Bay,” Boston Police Superintendent Bill Evans said. “We have a lot of construction equipment out there that are gonna cause some minor delays.”

The usual Boston skyline started to reemerge at just before 6 a.m. Thursday, when 111 Huntington Avenue -- part of the Prudential Center -- got its power back.

With some neighborhoods spending a second night in the dark, police say they’ve used more than 100 officers to keep people safe.

“We really picked up our visibility, just because -- whether people don’t have 911 capabilities or people have cell phones -- if they needed someone we were outside their door,” Superintendent Evans said.

NSTAR says the Prudential Tower will be one of the last customers to get power back because it is on a separate circuit. The tower, along with Prudential Center Mall, is hoping to get back online by Thursday afternoon.

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