Central Maine Power Reaches New Milestone with Berwick Area Reinforcements
CMP News
Central Maine Power Company, 83 Edison Drive, Augusta, ME 04336 (207) 622-NEWS
Corporate Communications - corpcomm@cmpco.com
Release: Immediate
January 29, 2015
Central Maine Power Reaches New Milestone with Berwick Area Reinforcements
New transmission line and substation in Lebanon will improve service to region
AUGUSTA, Maine Central Maine Power Co., a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, has reached another milestone in a major project that will enhance service to customers in southwestern York County. At the end of December, crews put the utility's new Lebanon Substation into service, along with an 11-mile 34.5-kilovolt transmission line connecting the new facility with the Butler's Corner Substation in Sanford. The new infrastructure is part of CMP;s $42.5 million Berwick Area Reinforcement Project.
"Once these reinforcements are complete, customers in the Berwick area should experience fewer service interruptions and quicker service when outages do occur, said CMP spokesperson Gail Rice. "These investments will also provide additional capacity to support growth well into the future.
The Lebanon Substation includes a 34.5 - 12.47 kV transformer, a 50 KVA station service transformer; two 12.47 kV distribution breakers; numerous switches and disconnects; and a control house equipped with new protection, control and automation systems. The substation yard will have room for a future 34.5 kV transmission line circuit and two additional 12.47 kV distribution circuit positions.
CMP broke ground on the Berwick Area Reinforcement Project in the fall of 2011. The first phase of the project included expansion of the Bassett Substation in Berwick, construction of a 2.3-mile transmission line feeding Bassett from the utility's Quaker Hill Substation in North Berwick, and improvements to roadside distribution lines supplied from that substation.
Work on the Lebanon Substation and two others the Sanford Switch and the new Berwick Substation began in the fall of 2013. The Sanford Switch went on line last fall; Berwick is due to go into service in 2016. Also part of the project is a new seven-mile, 34,500-volt (34.5 kV) transmission line that will feed the new Berwick Substation.
"With the support of our parent company Iberdrola USA, CMP invested nearly $275 million in 2014 building a stronger, smarter grid for Maine, said CMP President and CEO Sara Burns. Our investments in southwestern York County and elsewhere ensure long-term grid reliability and capacity for growth."
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About Central Maine Power Company (CMP): Central Maine Power Company, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, is Maine's largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. The company delivers about 9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually to more than 600,000 homes and businesses, representing about 80% of Maine's annual consumer sales of electricity. J.D. Power and Associates has ranked the company #1 in customer satisfaction seven times. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com.
About Iberdrola USA: Iberdrola USA is the U.S. subsidiary of global energy leader Iberdrola, S.A. The Iberdrola USA companies employ about 5,000 people with operations in 24 states from New England to the West Coast, providing electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas storage and distribution, and energy services. For more information, please visit our website: www.iberdrolausa.com. Follow us on Twitter: @IberdrolaUSA