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DETROIT, Aug. 16 — Electric power was restored overnight and early today to most of Detroit and Cleveland, the last two major metropolitan areas to recover from the blackout that hit the Northeast, the Midwest and parts of Canada, leaving millions of people in the dark for up to two days.

New York City's return to a normal routine took a big leap forward early today when subway service was restored to all five boroughs.

"All New York City Transit subways are running on or close to schedule," the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a recorded announcement.

In Detroit, officials of the local utility said that electricity was back on for all of its 2.1 million customers across southeast Michigan by dawn, and that any remaining areas without power were a result of normal equipment problems, not the aftermath of the largest blackout in the nation's history.

By this morning, city and utility officials in Cleveland said that service had been restored to all of the 1.4 million customers in northern Ohio who had lost electricity in the blackout Thursday.

City officials also said that pressure in the city's water system had returned to normal. Water pumps shut down during the blackout, leaving 1.5 million homes and business with little or no water until Friday morning.

Toronto and most of the rest of Ontario have returned to near normal today, with about 70 percent of the power generation capability back in operation. Officials warned, however, that there would be rolling blackouts for several more days to ensure that all residents have at least some energy.

In Detroit, an exultant Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick celebrated a second night free of looting and violence despite the blackout that cloaked the city in darkness for two days, as Detroit awoke to find virtually all of its power restored this morning, days earlier than expected.

"I'm so proud of this city," Mr. Kilpatrick, who has been struggling since he took office in 2002 to rehabilitate Detroit's national reputation for crime and poverty, said this morning in an interview with Channel 7 News. "The eyes of the world were on Detroit. They were expecting looting and mayhem would be in Detroit, and this was the calmest city in the country."

Detroit city officials said residents should continue to boil water for drinking, cooking and cleaning until Sunday afternoon. But they said spot checks had found no evidence of bacterial infestation.

City beaches along Lake Erie remained closed, however, because sewage backed up into the lake when treatment plants shut down during the blackout. Officials said the ban would continue indefinitely.

There have been some reports that the problem that led to the blackout began with the shutdown of a generating plant in the Cleveland area. But a spokesman with the region's main utility, the FirstEnergy Corporation, said the company had no comment on those reports.

"We're doing an investigation now," said Todd Schneider, the spokesman.

The return of subway service in New York City was a welcome occurrence, even though it fell on a weekend.

When the power failed on Thursday it forced hundreds of thousands of people to either camp out in Manhattan or take long walks home. On a normal weekday, New York's subway and bus system carries seven million passengers.

Electrical power was restored to all parts of New York City by 9:03 p.m. Friday, according to Consolidated Edison, the local utility.

Initial estimates by the City Council said that the blackout would lead to a loss of $30 million to $40 million in sales and income tax revenue for the fiscal year and that residents' income would be down by $500 million to $750 million because of decreased economic activity.

In Detroit, some areas still had no water today, as the system struggled to refill its pipes, and city officials said that for at least 24 hours residents should continue using bottled water or boiling what comes from the tap. And as excited residents snapped on lights and air-conditioners, officials with the local utility, DTE Energy, urged moderation, warning that the expected use this afternoon would normally peak at 8,700 megawatts, while the company would most likely have only 6,600 megawatts available.

"You can see there is a mismatch," Anthony F. Earley, the chief executive of DTE, said, suggesting that customers keep air-conditioners off and avoid running items like washing machines or pool filters, and promising rolling blackouts if customers did not continue conserving energy. "We are very tight."

Slowly, this city of one million blinked back to life overnight, after 36 hours of darkened, empty streets downtown and impromptu neighborhood barbecue parties in the sprawling neighborhoods.