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As rain and wind increased Christmas morning, about 12,500 accounts were without electricity just mid-afternoon Saturday.
Central Maine Power reported 6,440 customers in the dark at 3:30 p.m, and Versant showed 3,613 without service.
But Versant spokeswoman Judy Long, "We do have crews out there, in pairs, patrolling the lines and assessing the damage and making repairs as quickly as possible."
Central Maine Power CEO and President Doug Herling told NEWS CENTER Maine yesterday that crews would come in Christmas at 5:00 a.m. to respond to outages caused by the storm.
"We ask for their patience and just to let them know that we're working as quickly as possible to restore power," said Herling.
Central Maine Power tweeted their teams are prepared.
"We’ll be here for Christmas. Our lineworkers, contractor, and hundreds of support staff showed up to work early Christmas Day to restore any storm-related outages as quickly and safely as possible. To report outages go online (https://ecmp.cmpco.com/WebOutage) or call 800.696.1000."
NEWS CENTER Maine's meteorologists predict wind gusts reaching 50-60 miles per hour on Christmas.
Both Central Maine Power and Versant Power told NEWS CENTER Maine Thursday they will have full contingents of line crews, tree crews, support staff and additional crews and contractors on standby to assist.
"We ask people to please take steps to do what you can to prepare for the possibility of power outages and travel difficulties on Christmas," said Judy Long, communications manager with Versant Power.
Versant also took to social media reassuring their customers they are ready.
"We have crews working in all locations over the holiday to address any public safety issues, assess damage and begin restoration efforts safely and as quickly as possible. FMI: versantpower.com/outages-and-re… #MEwx"
NEWS CENTER Maine will be updating this story throughout the day with the latest updates on Christmas power outages.
