AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The Maine Public Utilities Commission issued an order for a summary investigation into Central Maine Power Company and Emera Maine. The investigation will gather information on CMP and Emera's preparedness and response to the October 2017 storm.
Central Maine Power President Sara Burns says there are lessons-learned from this storm, but a faster response could be dangerous for crews.
“It’s dangerous work. We are very careful in how we do it,” said Burns in an interview with NEWS CENTER. “Would you be proud of us if we said we did it four hours earlier, but we had seven accidents? I think that is a big challenge for us when (critics) take us on and people say speed up. Speed up means take risk.”
Regardless of the PUC order, CMP said it will continue to move forward and prepare for future storms.
“We can continue to learn, we will continue to get better, we will make improvements,” Burns responded when asked about future response times. “But for the people who criticized us and said they would have done it differently… they should try sitting here.”
Tuesday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission opened its summary investigation into the response by public utility companies. Over 404,000 Central Maine Power customers and 90,000 Emera Maine customers experienced outages at some point during the October 2017 wind storm. Some customers were without power for more than a week.
CMP and Emera Maine have 30 days to respond to the order and follow these guidelines.
That within thirty (30) days from the date of this notice, CMP and Emera Maine shall file an initial storm report which shall provide the following information:
a. Number of customer outages by day as a result of the storm, companywide and by circuit.
b. A summary showing outside contractors retained for the storm and the dates of retention.
c. Total number of crews and equipment performing restoration activities by day for each day of the outage event.
d. A summary of the equipment damage which resulted from the storm.
e. A summary of the operation/resilience of the SCADA and Smart Meter communication systems as applicable.
f. A summary of incidents where the utility had to coordinate with state or local safety officials to respond to a downed line or other unsafe condition.