SEEING THE LIGHT: Superstorm Sandy put 8.5 million homes and businesses in the dark in 21 states, a record. But utilities restored power to most customers sooner than utilities in other states have after other big storms.

SANDY STATS: An AP analysis of Energy Department data showed it took New York utilities 13 days to restore power to 95 percent of customers. New Jersey reached the same level in 11 days.

KATRINA CATASTROPHE: The longest stretch to 95 percent restoration since 2004 was after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Utilities had power restored to only three-quarters of customers after 23 days.