Emera’s Storm Summary for Aroostook County & Northern Maine

As you know, the Emera Maine electrical system took a hit this week with two back-to-back storms, the initial one on Sunday, January 10 being the most damaging.  Now that all customers from the initial storm are restored, we wanted to provide this summary for your convenience and information.

All 30,000 customers impacted as a result of the wind storm have been restored.

Wind gusts topping 60 mph in some locations on Sunday snapped large trees and broke limbs. Damage assessors on Monday discovered widespread destruction, especially in Hancock County.

External line workers from across New England and Atlantic Canada helped bolster our field presence; we quadrupled our capacity of field crews handling the restoration.

Employees from elsewhere in the company were reassigned to assist with restoration, from damage assessment to answering phones in the Customer Service Center.

Majority of customers were restored by late Tuesday evening.  Crews restored nearly 30,000 customers in approximately 48 hours.

Final cleanup from the wind storm continued throughout the day Wednesday.  Strong winds and frigid weather conditions made restoration a challenge for field crews.

Emera Maine’s Storm Response Team is now turning its focus to a new storm approaching Maine this weekend which could bring 6-8 inches of snow and mixed precipitation.  The utility will continue to monitor the weather forecast and adjust staffing and resource plans as needed.

We sincerely appreciate the patience of our customers while we recover from this latest storm and also thank our hard-working employees for their dedication to restoring service to our customers.  A special thank you to media outlets across Maine for helping us share critical information with customers and the public at large. We appreciate your assistance!