CMP urges signups of enhanced outage alert service

AUGUSTA, Maine - Central Maine Power Co. is urging customers to sign up for its outage alerts service, including estimated restoration times, during an outage. The company also continues to add new features to the Outage Central section of its web site as it prepares to respond should summer storms disrupt power.

"Thousands of customers have signed up for Outage Alerts since we introduced it last year, and they get automatic updates about service interruptions that affect their home or business," said Gail Rice, spokesperson for Central Maine Power. "Outage Alerts is one of the most popular new services we've offered in years, and our smart meters make it possible. Customers love the information it provides, and they can tailor the service to their own specific needs."

Customers can choose to receive outage alerts by phone, text message, e-mail, or any combination of the three. CMP will notify enrolled customers when it detects an outage and provides an estimated restoration time. Customers will receive an updated alert should the estimated restoration time change, along with a final alert once power has been restored. More information on Outage Alerts is at https://www.cmpco.com/youraccount/aboutalerts.html.

The company has also made improvements to Outage Central, the portion of its web site devoted to outage information at http://www.cmpco.com/Outages/default.html.

"Our new outage map is much more informative and user-friendly, and we've added estimated restoration times to both the map and to the on-line outage list," said Rice. "Best of all, Outage Central is mobile-friendly so customers can get information on their smart phones and tablets."

CMP continues efforts to make its energy grid more resilient to storm damage through its tree care and system inspection and maintenance programs, both of which take place on a five-year cycle.

"These programs have reduced the frequency and duration of outages, but severe weather can still cause problems," said Rice. "We're ready, and we want customers to be ready, too."