Storm leaves entire town on Maryland's Eastern Shore without power

Josh Davis, The Baltimore Sun on Feb 23, 2026

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BALTIMORE — An entire Eastern Shore town was without power Monday as widespread outages hit the region after a heavy snowstorm.

A Delmarva Power outage map showed nearly 1,000 outages Monday morning, affecting more than 6% of the utility’s 550,000 customers in Maryland and Delaware. Choptank Electric Cooperative reported nearly 27% of its 57,000 customers were without power as of early Monday.

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall took to Facebook to provide an update early Monday morning. Tyndall said the town lost power late Sunday night.

Berlin is unique on the Eastern Shore in that it operates its own municipal electric utility, serving local homes and businesses directly. The town generates some electricity at a small power plant on William Street but purchases most of its power from outside suppliers. That electricity is delivered into Berlin through the regional transmission grid, which in much of the area is operated by Delmarva Power.

Tyndall said the issue, in this case, was with Delmarva Power.

“Town crews have spent the evening working to clear down trees and wires, plow the streets, and fix issues related to the storm and power outage,” Tyndall wrote. “Unfortunately, the source of the issue is not a Berlin Electric issue but an issue with electricity coming into town from Delmarva Power.”

Tyndall asked for patience as town crews and Delmarva Power worked to restore service.

He also urged residents to stay off the streets.

“You will get stuck and cause a strain on town resources,” he said. “This storm has caused extremely high snow drifts and areas that have been impossible to keep clear due to heavy winds. Leaving your house poses not only a risk for you but our town staff and local first responders who will have to come rescue you.”

Zach Chizar, a senior communications specialist with Exelon, the parent company of Delmarva Power, said Berlin was impacted by an outage beginning around 10:15 p.m. Sunday and that crews were working on the issue.

“Currently, there are approximately 575 customers still without service,” Chizar said. “All of our restoration times are suspended, but we do have crews actively on site working this one. We do encourage customers to request a callback so they know when their power is restored. We appreciate everyone’s patience as our crews are able to navigate the winds and road conditions to be able to assess and make any repairs.”

Chizar said that as of 8 a.m. Monday, about 35,000 customers were without power across Delmarva Power’s service area — roughly 20,000 in Maryland, mostly in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, and about 15,000 in Delaware, primarily in Sussex County.

Tyndall told The Baltimore Sun Delmarva Power crews hope to restore service by noon Monday.

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