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

Outage repair continues after severe storms hit central Maine 
 

AUGUSTA, Maine, September 27, 2007 — CMP crews continue working to repair the damage caused by a line of storms that moved through parts of central and coastal Maine Wednesday night. High winds from the storms blew trees onto power lines, disrupting service to thousands of customers. An estimated 5,800 customers, mostly in Waldo County, were without service at the storm’s peak Wednesday evening. Crews cut that number to about 2,000 Thursday morning before a second line of storms caused new outages.

At 11:15 a.m. Thursday, CMP estimated 4,100 customers without service. Most of them are in the utility’s Rockland, Augusta, and Alfred service areas.

“The high winds from Wednesday night’s storm caused severe damage in a line starting near Somerville and moving east through Washington, Searsmont, and Northport, crossing Penobscot Bay through northern Islesboro and on to Castine,” says CMP spokesman John Carroll. “We have reports of entire trees coming down onto power lines in many areas, and our crews have already replaced nearly 30 utility poles.”

The utility has 95 lineworkers and support personnel in the area, and Carroll adds the utility appreciates the local support it has received.

“The people at Maine Maritime Academy have been a tremendous help, moving motor vehicles and feeding our crews in their cafeteria,” he says. “Support like that makes a tough job like this a little less arduous.”

CMP will continue to move more crews into the hardest-hit areas in hopes of getting service back on for most customers by Thursday evening.

A second line of storms hit southern Maine this morning, and lightning damage caused new outages in York, Cumberland, Oxford, and Androscoggin Counties. Many of those customers already have their power back, and the remaining damage should be fixed this afternoon.

 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 —