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

CMP outage restoration passes halfway mark
Utility doubles workforce in 36-hour period

AUGUSTA, Maine, April 17, 2007, 9:30 p.m. Central Maine Power Company has restored service to more than half of the customers who lost power after the Patriots Day storm. At 9:30 p.m., an estimated 56,345 customer accounts remained without service, down from Monday afternoon's peak of 127,585 customer accounts.

"While we still have some work ahead of us, we're happy to have cut the outage count in half after only 36 hours," said CMP spokesman Gail Rice. "This was possible largely because we have doubled our workforce by bringing in a lot of outside crews."

The reinforcements include utility workers from northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, as well as tree removal crews from as far away as Long Island and western New York state, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. By mid-afternoon, more than 825 line workers, tree removal specialists, and field planners were at work on repairs, backed up by another 300 support personnel at the company's regional offices. Additional outside crews will join the growing workforce Wednesday morning, and CMP hopes to make even more progress repairing the damage caused by high winds that gusted to hurricane force in some areas.

CMP crews spent of much of Monday and Tuesday responding to emergency calls and de-energizing downed lines to ensure public safety. Fallen trees blocked access to storm-damaged areas, making assessment and repair a challenge. By Tuesday evening, the company's damage assessment crews had found more than 240 broken utility poles.

CMP continues to caution that the restoration work may extend to the end of the week in some coastal communities.

"The progress we made today is encouraging, but we haven't lost sight of the fact that many customers are spending a second night without power," said Rice. "Some customers Kittery and Owl's Head could still be without service until later in the week, and we will continue to work around the clock until we've restored service to all of them."

The Maine Emergency Management Agency has established emergency shelters in many communities. A list of shelters is available from county emergency management agencies and on the CMP website at www.cmpco.com.

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 - 9,874
Bridgton - 36
Brunswick - 25,291
Dover - 230
Farmington - 200
Portland - 17,363
Rockland - 3,049
Skowhegan - 302

This is our last update for Tuesday evening.

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 —