CMP Power Restoration Nearly Complete

Power restored to more than 231,000 customers by Wednesday afternoon  

AUGUSTA, Maine — December 9, 2020 – As of Wednesday, Central Maine Power (CMP) has restored power to more than 231,000 customers following last weekend’s Nor’easter. The storm impacted about 233,000 customers as a result of heavy, wet snow, ice, rain, and sustained winds of up to 50 MPH in some areas. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were fewer than 2,000 customers without power, primarily in CMP’s northern and Bridgton-area territories. Restoration efforts will continue in those areas until power has been restored to all customers.

“This has been a monumental effort by our teams,” said CMP executive chairman, David Flanagan. “We have over 2,000 people supporting this restoration effort. Our line crews, customer service team, and other support staff worked day and night, committed to seeing customers through this challenging process.”

Using historical models of similarly sized storms, CMP positioned 336 contracted line crews and its own 100 internal line crews across the service area in advance of the storm, as well as 181 tree crews. As the storm rolled in, CMP secured an additional 147 contracted line crews and 83 tree crews to restore as many customers as quickly as possible. In total, CMP has 583 line crews and 264 tree crews working on restoring customers’ power and repairing damage.

“The impact we saw with this storm was severe and widespread; we know that many of our customers were out for an extended period and we appreciate their patience,” added Flanagan. “We saw more than 300 broken poles and wires taken down by heavy trees and limbs across our service territory. A huge thanks goes out to the CMP employees and all of the contractors who worked so hard to get power back to our customers in the face of one of the worst storms of this year.”

CMP support staff also played a critical role in the successful restoration of power to customers. Customer service representatives worked extended hours, logistics teams secured food and hotels for contractors, and many other members of the CMP and AVANGRID teams came together to ensure response efforts were coordinated throughout the company.

CMP continues to observe all COVID-19 safety protocols in storm response including:
- 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 social distancing in the field
- Allowing one employee per vehicle
- Wearing masks

CMP has developed a variety of ways for customers to report a loss of service and to obtain information about the status of outages:

  • Using our mobile app (search for Central Maine Power in the App store), you can know if CMP is already aware of an outage for your home, report a new outage and see the current status of your outage, all from the home page.
  • Enroll in Outage Alerts and then you can simply text “OUT” to 267-898 (CMP-TXT) to report an outage.  You can also text “ON” to report power has been restored or “STATUS” for an update for your location.  Outage Alerts will also notify you if an outage occurs, when an estimated restoration time is established or changed for your outage, and when power is restored.
  • Online at www.cmpco.com.
  • Using our 24/7 automated phone system at 800.696.1000.  Use your account number, phone number or social security number to report your outage and to hear estimated restoration times specific to your location.

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.

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 636,000 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 $3.5 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 $36 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.

Media Contact:

  • Emily Spencer
    emily2.spencer2@avangrid.com
    207.274.4702 (cell)
  • 24/7 Media Hotline
    1.833.MEDIA.55 (833.633.4255)
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