AUGUSTA, Maine — The total number of Central Maine Power (CMP) customers without power has gone down significantly on Saturday.
In a release from CMP, the total number of customers without power is 21,000. This number is compared to the peak number of outages at noon on Thursday which was 180,000 customers.
CMP says that restoration effort times are improving faster than they had originally anticipated.
“Our crews made significant progress during the overnight period and that momentum is expected to carry on throughout the day on Saturday,” said Kevin Elwell, director of Electric Operations for CMP. “As a result, estimated restoration times are improving and company personnel are working to update customers in real time via our website’s outage page.”
There are 100 CMP crews restoring power, in addition to 490 line crews, and 220 tree crews in the field.
CMP's CEO, Doug Herling says their main priority is clearing the storm damage to get everyone back online. He says the company has even shut down its business lines for customers to they can focus on storm efforts.
Herling says his team has learned two guiding principles from the storms we have had in the past; clearing the roads for emergency vehicles and communicating early to customers.
"We got out on the first day of the storm to let the coastal communities know that they would be without power for multiple days, and right now we're striving to keep that information updated." Herling said.
CMP gave the following tips for safety:
- Do not use a natural gas or propane stove or oven to heat your home.
- Do not use outdoor grills or stoves inside your home.
- Always follow generator safety tips.
- Never operate a generator indoors, and operate the generator in a clean, dry area.
- Generators must be kept dry and properly grounded.
- Never touch a generator if you are wet or are standing in water or on damp ground.
More information regarding outages can be found at CMP's website.