HARPSWELL — Central Maine Power Co. plans to replace the lines that deliver electricity to Bailey Island, which currently run along poles sticking out of the water next to the Cribstone Bridge. The lines would be replaced by a cable laid under the sidewalk of the bridge, according to a company official.
Harpswell was one of many Maine communities that took a beating in October 2017 when a severe windstorm knocked out power for more than 400,000 Central Maine Power customers.
Like many communities, Harpswell lost power for several days as CMP crews worked to repair critical infrastructure. It took about a week for power to finally be restored in Harpswell, only for residents on Bailey Island to once again be plunged into darkness when a second windstorm knocked over the power lines leading into the island. The power lines, supported by poles coming out of the water next to the Cribstone Bridge, had fallen into the water.
“The residents of Bailey Island (…) bore a heavy burden in the aftermath of the October 2017 windstorm,” Harpswell officials wrote to CMP this August. “Not only did they lose power for days as a result of the initial windstorm, they had a second extended outage when a subsequent storm caused utility poles next to the Cribstone Bridge to fall into the water. The island community was again without power for days, with temperatures close to freezing.”
CMP crews were faced with the difficult task of resetting the poles, which could only be done at low tide. The company was able to restore power the day after the poles went down.
But Harpswell officials were concerned that the power lines leading to Bailey Island weren’t on firmer ground. So in August, town officials wrote the above-referenced letter to CMP to ask them to replace the poles with a cable located under the sidewalk on the Cribstone Bridge.
According to Greg Thompson, CMP Company Manager of Regional Operations, the company was open to that suggestion.
“We are planning to relocate the electric utilities that currently run beside the bridge underneath the sidewalk area of the bridge,” said Thompson.
The project, explained Thompson, would help prevent future outages by providing a more secure infrastructure for the island’s power.
“We’re hoping to complete construction in 2019,” said Thompson. “We’re still working through the approval process. We’ve got most of (the necessary permits and approvals, and) we don’t see any challenge getting the rest of them.”
Thompson said that he did not have any estimates on how much the project would cost yet, although he noted that it would be paid for with funding the company sets aside annually for “resiliency efforts.”
“This is just part of our ongoing efforts to increase the stability of the system and look at alternative ways to improve reliability,” said Thompson.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less