107,000 still in the dark; Powering up the electricity a top priority.

• Position: NEWS

Byline: Lisa Eckelbecker

It could still take days to restore power to some areas of Central Massachusetts devastated by last week's ice storm, even as hundreds of crews rush to repair damage that utility companies say has been more extensive than they expected.

"What we're finding is that the equipment, basically every fuse, all the insulators, every pole, the taps, needs to be repaired," said George R. Gantz, senior vice president of Unitil Corp., the New Hampshire parent of Fitchburg Gas and Electric that provides power to more than 28,000 customers in northern Worcester County. "It's a little bit like rebuilding the system as we go."

About 107,000 customers in Massachusetts remained without power yesterday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. National Grid reported that about 42,000 customers in Worcester County had no power at 7 p.m. yesterday. Unitil said 15,866 customers remained in the dark at 6:30 p.m. Smaller communities with municipal electricity departments reported continued outages.

National Grid mustered 985 repair crews in Massachusetts and New Hampshire yesterday, including line crews and tree crews and workers who arrived from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and other New England states. Unitil put 54 crews into the field yesterday, including crews from Philadelphia who worked in Fitchburg. Another 24 crews from Tennessee were slated to arrive tonight and likely be sent to Unitil efforts in New Hampshire.

Last night, the Auburn Mall parking lot was a sea of power company trucks with license plates from North Carolina and Missouri and guys from California and Michigan - 40 from Public Service Electric and Gas in New Jersey alone. Many of the imported workers were impressed by what Jeff Baker, a Seattle lineman, called "that good northeastern hospitality" shown by people in cold dark homes grateful to see someone with a funny accent who was going to restore their power.

Doug Green, his fellow IBEW Local 77 lineman, said they all got a free meal at The Grand Slam Cafe yesterday. "We tried to tip them and they wouldn't take it. It's nice to be appreciated."

Even an electrician named "Jim Bob" from Los Angeles got the free meal, although the cafe people told him he wouldn't get another one if he returned with his N.Y. Yankees hat. While the workers, a number of whom were brought in by BBC...