Heavy Snow, High Winds Cause Considerable Damage to Power Lines
CMP News
Central Maine Power Company, 83 Edison Drive, Augusta, ME 04336 (207) 622-NEWS
Corporate Communications - corpcomm@cmpco.com
Release: Immediate
Media Contacts: Gail Rice, 207.622.NEWS
Heavy Snow, High Winds Cause Considerable Damage to Power Lines
CMP advises that recovery will take several days
AUGUSTA, Maine, November 2, 2014 " Crews from Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, spent much of Sunday responding to power outages after a storm packing strong winds and heavy snow blew through the region. As of 7 p.m., the utility reported an estimated 80,000 customer accounts without service.
"We have a lot of damage from high winds, particularly in Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo Counties," says CMP spokesperson Gail Rice. "Additionally, the snow was on the high end of what had been forecast, and poor road conditions have made it impossible to get to some areas. Consequently, we expect recovery to take several days."
Rice says the utility"s current focus is on public safety.
"At this stage of the storm, our efforts are on de-energizing downed lines and making them safe," she says. "Once roads have been cleared and travel conditions improve, we can get damage assessors and repair crews in the field. We expect to start a full push on restoration Monday morning."
The utility is bringing in additional contract crews and has called for crews from Canada to assist local crews with storm recovery.
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About Central Maine Power Company (CMP): Central Maine Power Company, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, is Maine's largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. The company delivers about 9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually to more than 600,000 homes and businesses, representing about 80% of Maine's annual consumer sales of electricity. The company has been ranked #1 in customer satisfaction six times by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com/.
About Iberdrola USA: Iberdrola USA is the U.S. subsidiary of global energy leader Iberdrola, S.A. The Iberdrola USA companies employ about 5,000 people with operations in 24 states from New England to the West Coast, providing electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas storage and distribution, and energy services. For more information, please visit our website: www.iberdrolausa.com. Follow us on Twitter: @IberdrolaUSA
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