Reliable Service

Living in America’s most forested state is incredibly special, but it also presents challenges. CMP is building a smarter, stronger, more resilient grid for Maine. We have invested $3 billion to improve our infrastructure over the last decade – ensuring that Mainers can power on.

  • New, stronger power lines that resist fallen trees and branches
  • New, sturdier poles that weather Maine’s toughest storms
  • New animal guards to keep Maine’s wildlife safe and prevent outages
  • Tree care plans to mitigate damage
  • New automation to reduce outage impacts

A special message from our President and CEO, Joe Purington

I know that you count on CMP to deliver power to you safely and reliably; I take that responsibility seriously, and so does my team.

Every day our employees are working on the grid to make it smarter, stronger and more resilient for you, while also making upgrades needed to connect renewable energy projects. Sometimes, these upgrades require that we interrupt power so our line crews can work safely on de-energized lines. Recently, we completed a system upgrade using an innovative approach that allowed our crews to work safely without disrupting power for an extended time.

In Augusta, our CMP team partnered with Prime Power to use a large mobile generator to avoid an extended outage during an upgrade to our system. Thanks to innovative thinking and advanced planning, nearly 900 customers experienced only two momentary losses of power, instead of being out of power for more than 2 hours while the work was completed.

Every day we ask ourselves what we can do better to improve our service to you, our customers. I look forward to applying what we have learned from this generator solution to future system upgrades and repairs so that we can maintain and even improve the reliability that you depend on.

Sincerely,

Joe Purington
President and CEO
Central Maine Power Company


Reliability Projects

We're making improvements to better serve our communities

We know you count on us to deliver the power you need, when you need it, and we take that responsibility seriously. As part of our commitment to deliver safe, reliable service to all of our customers, we are investing in our delivery system that will deliver additional power to fill growing demand, increase reliability, and accommodate growth and economic development in our service areas.

All of our upgrades mean one thing for you: you'll have reliable, high-quality power when you need it


CMP Reliability Projects Website

Distributed and Community Generation

CMP works with small and large distributed generators to connect their facilities to our energy grid. Many CMP customers are subscribing to renewable energy programs, including community solar generation, a form of distributed generation. CMP does not develop DG projects. We are committed to interconnecting the generators while ensuring a safe, reliable energy delivery grid for our customers. Learn more about CMP’s role in DG on the links below.

An overview of Distributed Generation and CMP Projects

CMPconnectsDG Website

Distribution Line Inspections

Under the Distribution Line Inspections (DLI) Mitigation program, CMP Inspects every pole on our distribution line system for structural integrity once every 5 years and corrects any deficiencies by replacing poles and cross arms and transferring lines. These inspections and replacements improve system reliability and helps CMP meet regulatory requirements.

Structure Replacements (Transmission Lines)

Beginning in May 2022 and into early 2023, CMP is replacing transmission line structures to meet federally required standards for electric system stability. Eight-three structures on three transmission lines between Lewiston and Livermore Falls, and Madison and The Forks, require upgrades.

The structure replacements are part of a multiyear maintenance project to mitigate clearance issues that were identified by CMP through a North American Electric Reliability Corporation mandate. This work is the last that needs completion under the federal directive. Learn more here.

Operational Projects

Maintenance operations on existing utility equipment and associated land which may include operating, maintaining, reconstructing, inspection, testing, restoring, removing, and repairing.

Customer Funded Projects

Central Maine Power Company (CMP) efficiently delivers safe, reliable electricity to more than 646,000 homes and businesses from an energy supplier of their choice over our dependable infrastructure. CMP does not generate power.

Energy generators and developers pay the expenses associated with CMP’s system improvements to facilitate their connection needs. Projects may require a new substation, transmission line, switch yard, or other infrastructure to safely connect to the grid. Ownership and maintenance of these components may fall with the developer or CMP, depending on their interconnection agreements.