MAINE, USA — Versant Power and Central Maine Power (CMP) are working to address thousands of outages across the state due to heavy winds Monday.
As of 3 p.m. Monday, Versant said about 10,700 of its customers were without power. CMP said about 9,800 of its customers were without power, with most outages concentrated in Cumberland, York, and Oxford counties.
CMP warned customers early in the day Monday that there could be outages due to strong, gusty winds in their service area, saying, "On Monday, Nov. 2, CMP is expecting strong, gusty winds across our service area that could bring tree limbs down and cause outages. We are prepared to respond. Call 800.696.1000 to report an outage or visit."
CMP says they are working with the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and County Emergency Management officials to prioritize areas where polling places are ahead of the election on Tuesday.
“Forecasts predict that the strong winds will die down early this evening and we will work through the night to restore all customers with priority given to the polls," Kerri Therriault, director of Electric Operations for CMP, said in a release.
CMP says the outages are primarily caused by tree limbs blowing and falling onto wires and poles, as well as by trees outside the company's trimming zone uprooting the wind.
Versant is primarily reporting outages in Penobscot County and Piscataquis County. In Washington County, particularly the Lubec area, Versant reported about 1,500 customers were without power due to a dump truck crashing into a utility pole.
NEWS CENTER Maine will continue to update this story.
