Central Maine Power Reaches 99 Percent in Power Restorations
Crews will keep working on remaining outages, seasonal properties, and clean-up
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUSTA, Maine November 5, 2017 Crews for Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a diversified energy and utility company, are in the final stages of restoring power to customers who lost service after an historic wind and rain storm hit Maine. As of 8:30 p.m., the company reports an estimated 6,000 customers without power. Some of the remaining customers will be without power through the night, including many seasonal properties, which will be among the last to be restored.
The company's storm recovery team will keep working around the clock to restore service to the remaining customers.
Restoration estimates by town are being updated at CMP Outage with the most current information.
Storm Summary: Windstorm - October 30
On Monday, October 30, winds from an intense, low pressure system swept across Maine. Forecasts warned of a low risk of gusts to 60 mph at the immediate coast, but the storm arrived as a bomb cyclone, producing hurricane force winds offshore and gusts to 70 mph as far inland as Augusta. The unexpectedly strong storm caused damage across New England and the provinces of Qubec and the Canadian Maritimes. In Maine, the winds caused widespread damage and the outage count soared to 405,000 by noon on Monday. Utility crews prioritized public safety, with a focus on make-safe work to reduce the hazards from downed wires and maintaining service to hospitals and other critical facilities. As a result of the storm and in the days that followed during restoration, more than 470,000 customers lost power at least one time.
The first full day of restoration began at first light on Tuesday, October 31 with a workforce of approximately 650 tree, line, and pole setting personnel plus field and administrative support. The emergency response effort expanded to all employees and began round-the-clock operations. Working through the North American Mutual Assistance Group (NAMAG), CMP received assistance from 16 states and 3 provinces: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, plus the provinces of Qubec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The number of personnel increased daily to a peak of nearly 3,300 field and support personnel by Saturday, November 4, including 850 AVANGRID employees and 2,430 contractors.
The strong winds and heavy rains caused extensive damage as trees, many still in full leaf and weakened by drought, snapped or uprooted in rain saturated soil. The falling trees pulled down wires, snapped more than 1,400 poles, and left many roads impassable.
Following five days of round-the-clock operations, CMP the company reached a milestone of 97 percent restored by Saturday, November 4, meeting a goal for the restoration that it had set four days earlier. On Sunday evening, CMP reported their crews had restored service to 99 percent of those without power.
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About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) is a diversified energy and utility company with more than $31 billion in assets and operations in 27 states. The company owns regulated utilities and electricity generation assets through two primary lines of business, Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks is comprised of eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving approximately 3.2 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables operates more than 6 gigawatts of owned and controlled renewable generation capacity, primarily through wind and solar, in 22 states across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 6,800 people. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About CMP: Central Maine Power Company (CMP) is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR). As Maine's largest electricity transmission and distribution utility, CMP serves 618,000 homes and businesses, representing about 80% of Maine's customer base. J.D. Power and Associates has ranked the company #1 in customer satisfaction seven times. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com.
Media Contact:
Gail Rice
gail.rice@avangrid.com
207.622.NEWS