SACO – The number of power outages in Maine related to extreme storms is growing, and doing more to keep power lines and poles clear of trees is necessary to help keep the lights on in bad weather.
Those were some of the key takeaways from a new report by the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission.
The report, released last week, contains statistics about power outages and their causes in recent years, along with recommendations on how to make local power grids more resilient.
“I think the goal now is to make this kind of a portable model to be used elsewhere in Maine,” said James Rather, the commission’s director of strategic initiatives and one of the report’s authors. “Our plan covers southern Maine, but certainly this is something that could be replicable throughout the state.”
Data from the report indicates that power outages are a growing problem. Over the past 20 years, according to the report, the number of outages in Maine has “more than tripled.”
The report also found that storm-related outages last longer in southern Maine compared to other regions of the state. Rather said that’s particularly true in coastal areas, with winds coming in off the water and flooding from storm surges.
“The coastal region does face some unique threats,” he said.
Extreme weather events are largely to blame. The report takes particular note of winter storm Elliot, which struck Maine in December 2022. The storm knocked out power to around 380,000 Central Maine Power customers, more than 40% of the company’s customer base.
“That was one of the ones that really made it clear that there was some form of intervention needed in looking at how we can better weather the effects of these storms that happen all the time,” Rather said.
The report also notes the economic impacts of power outages, both for businesses that must close during outages and residents who cannot work with the power out.
Exact figures are difficult to come by, but the report estimates that power outages to businesses, including lost wages, cost as much as $6.7 million in 2022, $9.8 million in 2023 and $11.2 million in 2024.
The report, Rather said, is the result of collaborating with utility companies, public officials and the business community. In addition to outlining the problem, the report’s authors offer a number of suggestions to make local power grids more resilient.
Chief among the recommendations is a greater effort to guard against trees and limbs falling on lines and knocking down utility poles in high winds.
“Vegetation management and making sure there’s enough clear space around trees was one of the solutions we discuss in the document,” Rather said.
CMP spokesperson Dustin Wlodkowski said wind direction can make the problem even worse. Typical severe storms bring winds from the Northeast, which means trees in Maine are often hardened to and prepared for those winds.
In recent years, however, Wlodkowski said CMP has noticed storms have been bringing more winds from the south.
“If trees aren’t strengthened from that direction, they can be more at risk,” he said.
One change CMP has been making in recent years, Wlodkowski said, is what the company calls “Ground-to-sky trimming.” CMP crews typically trim trees away from power lines year-round, but for years the standard was to trim no more than 15 feet of space, meaning some trees still had limbs higher up stretching over the lines.
Now, Wlodkowski said, crews are trimming even more overhanging limbs.
“This trimming removes the entire upper canopy,” he said.
Another key to resiliency, Rather said, was working with local emergency responders to minimize the impacts of power outages on residents, including making sure warming shelters are available in the winter.
Many communities, Rather said, are already doing this, but not everyone knows where they are.
“Sometimes it’s a matter of publicizing them,” he said.
Encouraging businesses to become more energy self-sufficient may also be a key, according to the report. Rather said small-scale solar power arrays are becoming cheaper and more common and could help businesses stay open even when the lights go out.
“It means something for you that gives you that extra peace of mind to keep the business humming along in the event of storms,” he said.
Now, Rather said, the commission is presenting the report to emergency management agencies, businesses and state agencies, with the hope that it will inspire changes to help the grid stay on during the next big storm.
Rather said the plan could easily be adapted by other regional planning agencies elsewhere in the state, taking the commission’s recommendations statewide.