Our community is facing a prolonged recovery after Monday's historic blizzard, with some South Jersey residents potentially waiting until Saturday before their lights come back on.
Atlantic City Electric reported just under 50,000 customers without power as of Monday evening, February 23, 2026. The utility company warned that while many will see restoration by Tuesday, and most by Thursday, the hardest-hit areas may require repair work stretching into the weekend.
The culprit? A devastating combination of more than a foot of heavy, wet snow and punishing winds exceeding 55 miles per hour. These conditions proved catastrophic for our local energy infrastructure, bringing down trees and branches that damaged power lines throughout the region.
Cape May and Atlantic counties have sustained the most severe damage, according to Atlantic City Electric officials. The company also serves Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem counties, where more than 112,000 customers experienced service interruptions during the storm's peak.
The response effort is massive. Atlantic City Electric has mobilized all available field personnel and brought in more than 225 contractors from both local areas and out of state. These crews will be working around the clock for several days to restore service safely and efficiently.
The outage situation extends beyond Atlantic City Electric's territory. Across New Jersey, over 90,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark Monday evening. JCP&L reported 40,837 outages as of 6 p.m., while PSE&G had 1,953 customers affected and Orange & Rockland counted 136.
For residents still without power, the wait is undoubtedly frustrating. The heavy, wet nature of this snow makes it particularly destructive to power infrastructure—it clings to branches and power lines, adding tremendous weight that can snap limbs and down wires. Combined with the fierce winds, this created a perfect storm for widespread electrical damage.
As our neighbors dig out from this historic blizzard, patience and preparation remain essential. Those still in the dark should ensure they have adequate supplies, check on vulnerable neighbors, and stay informed about restoration timelines through their utility provider's outage map and updates.
This storm will be remembered as one of the most significant winter weather events in recent Garden State history—both for the snow it delivered and the widespread disruption it caused to our daily lives.
