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

Vandals cause outage in Moosehead area 

AUGUSTA, Maine, Nov. 27, 2007 — Vandalism caused a power outage that disrupted service to nearly 4,500 Central Maine Power Company customers in the Moosehead Lake area late Wednesday night and early Thanksgiving morning. Customers from Monson north on both sides of the lake to Tomhegan and Lily Bay lost service at about 10:50 Wednesday evening. CMP crews worked through the night in temperatures hovering around freezing and restored service at about 4:20 Thanksgiving morning.

“Crews that responded Wednesday night found that two shattered insulators atop a transmission pole, and the third insulator was gone,” says CMP spokesman John Carroll. “This and other observations at the scene leave us with little doubt this was caused by gunfire.”

Carroll called “an utterly thoughtless act of vandalism.”

“Not only did it inconvenience customers and our crews, but it posed needless danger to people who rely on electricity to run life-support equipment,” adds Carroll. “We have been working very hard to upgrade the system and improve reliability in those towns. We’re fortunate that the crews were able to make the repairs before the outage could ruin people’s holidays, but this shows real disregard for the community’s safety, too.”

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident, and CMP is seeking help from the public to find the responsible parties. Anyone knowing who may be responsible can call the Sheriff’s Department at 564-3304.

About CMP: Central Maine Power, a subsidiary of Energy East Corporation, operates more than 25,000 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 is a respected, super-regional energy services and delivery company serving about 3 million customers throughout upstate New York and New England. By providing outstanding customer service and meeting customers’ energy requirements in an environmentally responsible manner, Energy East will continue to be a valuable asset to the communities we serve.

— CMP —