[welch-time]

I'm pretty sure Eversource can detect outages to individual houses that are equipped with new "smart meters". These are the meters with the digital display. I noticed Eversource installed one at our house last spring. My guess is the whole island has them now. The meters communicate back to the mothership via cell phone signals so the meters don't have to be read manually by a person on foot (really handy for an island). If a meter fails to send a signal the power company knows there's an outage at a specific location. I imagine they have devices mounted on poles as well to verify entire circuit status.

And just to reiterate, many thanks to the people who repair this stuff after a storm. I have huge respect for these people. I can't imagine working in the woods near lethal voltages in the rain while climbing ladders with chain-saws and other dangerous activities without quick access to medical help. I fully expected the island electric service repairs to be a lower priority than on the mainland after a major storm like we had. I get it. We're a bunch of summer cottages on an island, mostly closed for the winter. It's the reason I have a generator.

So maybe after all the smoke has cleared, a phone call to Eversource might be in order to thank the repair crews.
Mark