FACTBOX-Over 333,100 US customers still without power as storms hit Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains

By Scott DiSavino and Noel John

NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Over 333,100 homes and businesses were still without power on Thursday as severe storms battered the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains, according to data from PowerOutage.us.

That was down from around 585,000 customers out late on Wednesday, as utilities in some states restored service.

The hardest-hit utilities included Xcel Energy in Colorado state with around 98,000 of its 4,284,224 customers out, and Puget Sound Energy in Washington State with around 38,300 of its roughly 1.29 million customers out, according to PowerOutage.us.

Xcel Energy said in a post on X that crews have been deployed across its Colorado service area to assess damage and begin restoring power to customers affected by proactive shutoffs.

"Based on current weather forecasts including extreme wind and critically dry conditions, we are evaluating the potential need for a second PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoffs) event impacting Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties on Friday, Dec. 19, beginning as early as 5 a.m.," the company said.

Here are the major outages by state: