Thursday storms knock out power across Maine; crews work to restore electricity

ELLSWORTH, Maine (WABI) - Thursday’s thunderstorms left thousands of Maine residents without power, and utility crews from both Versant Power and Central Maine Power are working to restore electricity across the state.

Emily Tadlock, a communications specialist with Versant Power, said the storm brought down trees and utility poles, with the worst damage concentrated near lake areas.

“The winds took a lot of different trees down over here and a lot of poles,” Tadlock said. “We see a lot of damage around the lake areas because that’s where the storm was kind of at its strongest, the wind coming across the lake.”

CMP Spokesperson Dustin Wlodkowski said the damage ranks among the worst the company has seen this year. CMP reported more than 93,000 outages, with more than 85,000 customers restored as of the report. The company also called on its sister utility in Connecticut to assist with restoration efforts.

“This is some of the worst tree damage that they’ve seen for the entirety of the year at one time,” Wlodkowski said. “We’ve staffed up and we are going out there making sure that every customer has their power back.”

Tadlock said Versant Power has its full staff working on repairs and has moved crews from areas that sustained less damage to harder-hit regions.

“Hancock and Penobscot were hit harder,” Tadlock said. “A lot of times we can bring extra crews in from some of our less hard hit areas.”

Both CMP and Versant Power are asking drivers to slow down and give crews space while working roadside.

“If you see our crews working roadside, please drive carefully around them, give them space, drive a little bit slowly,” Wlodkowski said.

Tadlock echoed that message, noting that crews are working overnight and through long shifts to complete repairs.

“We just ask that people give our crews plenty of space to work,” Tadlock said. “You want to make sure you give them enough space, not just for their safety, but for your safety too.”

Both utilities also advise residents cleaning up storm damage to treat any downed wire as a live wire.