Central Maine Power Working to Restore Power to Most by Friday Evening
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUSTA, MAINE — September 7, 2018 — Crews from Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. (NYSE: AGR), continue to repair damage from brief yet intense thunderstorms that came through southern and coastal Maine on Thursday. At daybreak Friday, more than 200 lineworkers and scores of support personnel hit the roads in coastal communities from Freeport to Bristol, plus inland towns including Durham and Lisbon, with a goal to restore service to the vast majority of affected customers by late Friday evening.
At 10:30 a.m. Friday, fewer than 8,000 customers remained without service, mainly in Cumberland, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, and Androscoggin Counties. More than 32,000 customer accounts have lost power at some point over the past 24 hours. Strong winds from the storms – with reported gusts estimated near 70 miles per hour in some areas -- caused trees from outside the utility’s right of way to come into contact with lines, bringing them down onto roads. Crews spent much of Thursday and the overnight hours into Friday making downed lines safe on dozens of roads so that public works personnel could restore access for emergency vehicles and other traffic.
“We have been working very closely with county emergency management agencies and local municipalities to meet the needs of their emergency personnel,” said Tom DePeter, CMP’s senior director of Electric Operations. “This was one area we identified for improvement after last October’s wind storm, and we are following through on that pledge.”
The utility has been coordinating with the Maine Emergency Management Agency and county emergency management personnel. CMP urges customers to stay clear of any downed power lines or fallen trees that may be tangled in lines. It also reminds drivers to use caution when approaching utility crews. The working conditions are difficult, and the workers appreciate everyone’s consideration for their safety.
Additional information on storm safety and restoration, including a town-by-town listing of outages in the CMP service area with an area map, can be found on CMP’s web site at CMP Outages
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About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) is a leading, sustainable energy company with $31 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states. AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving 3.2 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates 7.1 gigawatts of electricity capacity, primarily through wind power, with a presence in 22 states across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 6,500 people. AVANGRID supports the U.N.’s Sustainability Development Goals, received a Climate Development Project climate score of “A-,” the top score received in the utilities sector, and has been recognized for two consecutive years by Ethical Boardroom as the North American utility with the “best corporate governance practices.” For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About CMP: Central Maine Power Company (CMP), a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc., is Maine’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. Established in 1899, CMP operates approximately 23,500 miles of distribution lines and 2,900 miles of transmission lines. It serves approximately 624,000 customers across 346 communities in central and southern Maine. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com.
Media Contact:
Gail Rice gail.rice@avangrid.com 207.622.NEWS