CMP News

Central Maine Power Company, 83 Edison Drive, Augusta, ME 04336 (207) 622-NEWS

Corporate Communications - corpcomm@cmpco.com 

Release: Immediate - An Energy East Company

Power restoration making progress
Coastal areas hardest hit

AUGUSTA, Maine, April 17, 2007, noon Central Maine Power reports that just over 104,000 customers were without service as of noon today. The number of outages had declined from the peak of 127,581 as the company has made some progress restoring power in western and northern areas of the state, which were spared the highest winds. However, in southern and coastal areas from Kittery to Owls Head, the focus of the effort has been on public safety.

We've been working full out since Sunday night when the storm first hit, and our crews are still responding to new reports of downed poles and wires," said CMP spokesman John Carroll. "Our first concern is public safety, so we're still making sure all downed lines are de-energized, before they can be cleared from streets and away from homes. The National Weather Service reported 80 mile per hour gusts at Cape Elizabeth yesterday morning, and we're still expecting winds up to 40 miles per hour through today. With such a big, slow moving storm, we haven't been able to shift from emergency response to assessment and recovery in many areas along the coast. We expect the restoration will take several days, possibly to the end of the week for some customers."

CMP has been working with the Maine Emergency Management Agency officials and local fire and safety officials and public works officials in all the worst affected communities to clear downed lines and open streets so public works crews and emergency vehicles can get through.

Utilities from around Maine and the Canadian Maritimes have sent crews to assist in the recovery, including New Brunswick Power, Nova Scotia Power, Madison Electric, and Maine Public Service. In addition, more than two dozen private companies have provided extra crews to help remove downed trees, replace broken poles, and repair the lines.

By mid-day, the CMP expects to have more than nearly 750 people in the field with an additional 300 support personnel in its service centers.

The company urges customers to use its outage line to report any new outages (800) 696-1000, and reminds customers that calls to that number are automatically registered in its reporting system, so they do not need to make multiple calls or try to contact the company through it other business lines.

In addition, the company asks the public to let the crews do their work safely and efficiently. They can be most helpful by driving carefully when passing crews on the roadside. Customer should also direct any inquires or outage reports to the company through the outage reporting system, rather than interrupting crews who are working on repairs.

Following is a breakdown of outages by Service Center. Each Service Center includes the city or town listed and about a dozen surrounding communities. A map showing the service areas is available on the company's outage page on its website at www.cmpco.com.

Alfred - 25,100
Augusta - 210
Bridgton - 610
Brunswick - 30,300
Dover - 400
Fairfield - 0
Farmington - 450
Lewiston - 210
Portland - 41,000
Rockland - 5,280
Skowhegan - 900

Next update: 4:30 p.m.

About CMP: Central Maine Power, a subsidiary of Energy East Corporation, operates more than 20,000 miles of power lines and other facilities that deliver electricity to 80 percent of Maine's population. Web site: www.cmpco.com.

About Energy East: Energy East Corporation [NYSE: EAS] is a respected super-regional energy services and delivery company that our customers can depend on every day. We are a motivated and skilled team of professionals dedicated to creating shareholder value through our focus on profitable growth, operational excellence and strong customer partnerships. We serve about 3 million customers throughout upstate New York and New England.

— CMP —