I have a family member who works for Northeast Utilities and once he finally got out of the driveway (11am), it took him a while to get to work, where the crews were being staged. By the time they got everyone there, the trucks ready, and the gameplan disseminated, it was 4-5pm. Then they hit the highway, which was still littered with abandoned and wrecked cars. It supposedly took a few hours just to go 50 miles. It's going to be a process.
Not only that, but usually, they'll tackle the most important and most affected lines. So if you're on a major line that serves a hospital, you'll probably be back on quickly. If you live at the end of a rural cul-de-sac, it could be a while. It's just the way it goes.
As for us, I've got a little amatuer weather station and I measured 36" here on the Hartford/Litchfield county line. It's crazy. At midnight Friday/Saturday, it was only at 15" and by the time I got up to shovel and snowblow at 5am, it was pretty much at 35-36". That's 4" an hour! The drifts weren't that bad here, as the highest wind gust I saw here was 55mph, but they were usually in the 35-45mph range with sustained winds not much above 20-25mph.
It still took seven hours to clear out though between snowblowing the driveway and handling areas around the car and house with the shovel. I headed out in my truck to clear my grandmother's driveway, and most secondary roads here are cleared about the width of one car if they're cleared at all. Thankful I've got a bit of a lift on the truck. I just wish I would have invested in a plow. I'd make a mint this weekend.
As for the historic nature of the storm, it's definitely historic. I lived in Canada for five years and I've only ever seen one other storm that had more snow, but it fell over a 60 hour period. This thing dumped 36" of snow in less than 24 hours. Ridiculous!
And while New England's power grid does sometimes leave something to be desired, I had power go out on me twice in less than a year in Sweden. It happens everywhere.
Hope everyone else got through this ok. For those without power, stay warm and safe.
Good luck y'all.