Downed line causes electricity loss in Waldo County

A strain on New England’s electricity supply amid steamy weather Tuesday was not connected to a widespread outage in Waldo County caused by a downed power line, authorities said.

Some 11,750 Central Maine Power Co. customers lost electricity for about 90 minutes, starting about noon, according to CMP spokeswoman Meredith Finn.

CMP had to search by helicopter to find the cause of the outage, she said, which was determined to be a downed power line in Prospect, a small Waldo County town on the west bank of the Penobscot River.

About 10 Prospect firefighters responded to a small grass fire that was sparked when CMP’s power line fell in its right of way, said Norman Boynton, a Prospect firefighter.

He noted that the flames had started to spread to trees when firefighters arrived.

Meanwhile, Maine and New England utilities said their consumers took steps Tuesday to slacken electricity demand as temperatures rose to the high 80s and two regional power plants were off-line for the day.

“We want to thank our customers for doing their part in helping us get through this tight power-supply situation,” CMP spokesman Mark Ishkanian said after the power watch was lifted at 3 p.m. when a cold front moved into Maine.

ISO New England, an organization that manages the region’s power supply, had warned Tuesday morning that high temperatures and humidity could strain the system later in the day. It urged residents and businesses to turn off unnecessary lights and appliances, do laundry in the evening and run air conditioners as little as possible.

Two power plants in New Hampshire, the Seabrook nuclear plant and Newington station, shut down Monday because of mechanical problems, according to Public Service Co. of New Hampshire. Together, they account for about 6 percent of New England’s 25,000-megawatt generating capacity.

It appeared that the changing weather was a factor in the loss of electric service to a “couple of hundred” CMP customers in the Knox County town of Washington. That outage was reported about 4 p.m., Finn said.

The outages in CMP’s Belfast District earlier in the day affected customers primarily in Belfast, Winterport and Searsport, as well as other towns.

At Waldo County Superior Court in Belfast, telephone service and computer use was interrupted by the 90-minute outage, Waldo County Sheriff’s Detective Bryant White said. Court proceedings, however, were not affected.

Customers of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. experienced no apparent problems, company spokesman Steve Desmond said, but “all day we’ve been watching.”

In New England, the maximum capacity for power demand is normally about 25,000 megawatts, Finn said, noting that a certain amount of power is kept in reserve. On Monday, the peak power demand was 21,200 megawatts compared with Tuesday’s draw of 21,960 megawatts by 2 p.m.

According to Desmond, the highest demand for this summer is expected to be 23,000 megawatts on the hottest day of the season.

If the call for power exceeds the maximum level, a series of steps can be taken, Finn said.

First, a “power watch” is issued, as was done Tuesday, and customers are urged to conserve energy. If the situation worsens, a “power warning” is announced, in which more restrictions are recommended. The next step would be a voltage reduction at ISO New England — an action that most customers would not be aware of, Finn said.

Only in an “absolute emergency” would “load shutting” be done, Finn said, explaining that such a move involves “rolling blackouts,” which are 30-minute outages in different areas.