Staff Report / May 26, 2026
Thousands of residents and businesses across Ontario County were left without electricity early Tuesday morning after a widespread power outage struck the Canandaigua area and surrounding communities. The outage affected more than 5,000 customers at its peak, making Ontario County one of the hardest-hit areas in New York State.
According to outage data, the largest concentration of affected customers was in and around Canandaigua, where more than 2,400 Rochester Gas & Electric customers were without power shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday. Additional outages were reported in neighboring communities, including Farmington and East Bloomfield. Utility officials had not immediately identified the cause of the outage.
PowerOutage.us reported that more than 5,200 customers in Ontario County were without electricity Tuesday morning, accounting for more than five percent of all electric customers in the county. At the time, Ontario County ranked first in New York State for both the total number of outages and the percentage of customers affected. Rochester Gas & Electric customers accounted for nearly all of the reported outages.
Utility crews began restoration efforts shortly after the outage was reported. Residents were encouraged to report outages directly to RG&E and to avoid any downed power lines or electrical hazards. Officials also reminded the public to treat all downed wires as energized and to stay at least 30 feet away from them.
As crews worked to restore service, customers were urged to monitor outage updates through RG&E’s outage reporting system. No estimated restoration times or confirmed cause had been announced as of Tuesday morning.
