MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy says the number of Minnesota customers without power is down to about 60,000.

The Minneapolis-based utility has been working for days to restore power following severe thunderstorms that swept through Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Friday to early Saturday.

At the peak of outages more than 550,000 Xcel Energy customers were without service. As of early Monday morning the number was down to just over 59,000.

The utility says it expects to restore power to the vast majority of its customers by Wednesday.

The utility says it responds with top priority to situations that threaten public safety, such as downed wires. The next priority includes hospitals and nursing homes. Then crews focus on restoring service in densely populated areas.