CMP Making Solid Restoration Progress

Projects vast majority to be restored Sunday night

AUGUSTA, Maine — April 11, 2020 — As of 5:00 today, Central Maine Power (CMP), has restored power to more than 180,000 customers, nearly 70% of those originally impacted, and added more contractors to its restoration team today.  Approximately 80,000 outages remain, caused by the Thursday evening snow, rain and wind storm.  The company reported a total of 260,000 customers impacted at some point during the storm. In addition to 100 CMP crews, the company is aided today by 439 contractor line crews as well as 222 tree crews for a total of more than 2,000 people working in the field and in support roles.

CMP projects that power will be restored to the vast majority of customers by Sunday night and will continue working in the field around the clock until restoration is complete.

“We have restored about 75,000 customers since this morning and are making good progress,” said Doug Herling, President and CEO of CMP. “We appreciate that this is a particularly stressful time and that it is frustrating to be without power. Our employees and contractors are committed to restoring every customer as safely and as quickly as we can.” 

The company asks that for the health and safety of the working crews and the public that customers not approach lineworkers on work sites.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is also directing lineworkers and all staff to take all appropriate safety precautions including:

- Limiting one employee per vehicle travelling to field locations
- Working in separate teams to minimize contact
- Restricting visitor access to company facilities
- Entering a customer residence only in the event of emergency and after assessing risk
- Maintaining appropriate physical distancing in the field

CMP  advises customers to use online tools, accessible at www.cmpco.com to report and monitor outages.

To ease the financial impact of the pandemic, CMP announced that it is suspending late payment and customer reconnection charges for all customers and has extended eligibility protections to customers participating in certain payment plans.

Restoration priorities:

  • CMP follows an orderly process when restoring service that emphasizes safety and seeks to make effective use of resources.
  • CMP’s immediate concern after a storm is public safety. Restoration teams work with towns and the state to de-energize downed lines, clear roads and restore previously identified critical facilities such as hospitals and shelters.
  • Next, CMP focuses on assessing damage and repairing the backbone of the electrical system: substations, transmission lines, circuits and primary lines. Crews focus on locations where they can restore large numbers of customers at once.
  • Then, crews restore equipment and lines that serve smaller groups of customers.
  • Finally, crews focus on restoring remaining service lines to individual homes and buildings until every customer has service. This phase may begin while higher-priority work is already underway.

If you lose service:

  • To report an outage, visit Outage Central at cmpco.com. Customers may also report an outage using CMP’s 24/7 automated phone system at 800.696.1000.
  • Keep sensitive electronic appliances such as computers, TVs and stereos plugged into a surge protector, or unplug them. They could be damaged if a power surge occurs when electricity is restored.
  • Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. For information about food safety, visit http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/refridg_food.html.
  • Never use a stove or oven, or an outdoor grill or heater, as an indoor space heater to stay warm. Only use space heaters intended for indoor use inside or in enclosed spaces, following the manufacturer’s instructions. If you are unable to keep your home safely heated, call Maine 211 for resources.

For customers with generators:

  • Hire a licensed electrician to install permanent generators and transfer switches.
  • Properly ground all portable generators.
  • Carefully read and observe all instructions in your generator’s operating manual.
  • Never run a generator indoors, or even in an open garage.
  • If your carbon monoxide detector goes off – get out of the building immediately and call 911.
  • Do not store fuel indoors or try to refuel a generator while it’s running.
  • Refer to CMP’s web page on generator safety.

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About CMP: Central Maine Power Company (CMP), a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc., is Maine’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. Established in 1899 and based in Augusta, Maine, CMP serves approximately 624,000 customers across 346 communities in central and southern Maine. It operates approximately 23,500 miles of distribution lines and 2,900 miles of transmission lines. Over the last decade, the company has invested approximately $2.6 billion in Maine system infrastructure. In 2019, CMP was named Large Business of the Year by the Kennebec Valley United Way. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com.

 

About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) is a leading, sustainable energy company with approximately $34 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states. With headquarters in Orange, Connecticut, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 6,600 people. AVANGRID supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2019 and 2020 by the Ethisphere Institute. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.

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