Connecticut Light and Power's projection for restoring the "vast majority" of its customers was "Monday or Tuesday," according to William Quinlan, a senior vice president for the utility.
"This is an estimate, it is not a guarantee," Quinlan said, adding that pockets of customers in particularly difficult areas would probably go beyond that date.
Quinlan said about 2 percent of customers would likely fall into that category.
The number of lineman being brought in from outside the company was expected to go from 1,080 on Wednesday to about 2,000 in the next several days, Quinlan said.
Of the thousands of "trouble spots" still left to repair, Quinlan said some of them involve trees on power lines but other — at least 1,000 — involve placing new poles.
"Our singular focus is on the 250,000 customers who remain without power," he said.
Here's a snapshot of where Fairfield County towns stand Thursday morning. All are CL&P towns except Easton and Fairfield (United Illuminating):
Town No. Outages Percent of town Darien 4,493 57 Easton 2,358 82 Fairfield 12,183 56 Greenwich 16,855 60 New Canaan 5,766 68 Norwalk 12,735 42 Redding 2,986 76 Stamford 15,049 27 Weston 3,092 81 Westport 9,561 77 Wilton 5,834 79