At a workshop of the Standing Joint Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology March 29, House Chair Rep. Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham) asked Central Maine Power representatives about a letter he received from an Appleton woman.

According to Heather Wyman's letter, she and her husband went to the Samoset Resort in Rockport for the Pen Bay Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala on Nov. 4, the Saturday following the windstorm that kept schools in Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties closed a week, caused hospitals to cancel elective surgeries, and closed many businesses. Berry remarked that businesses and farms in his area remained closed for another nine days, and seniors and others were blocked in by fallen trees and wires across the region. 

Wyman's letter stated there were multiple out-of-state utility trucks at the Samoset. Since power had been restored to Rockport the day before, she was surprised to see them, and when she checked in, asked why. ”We were shocked to learn that line workers from out of state were enjoying an overnight at the Samoset Resort as payback for traveling to Rockport earlier in the week to restore power to the Samoset,” she wrote. “The desk clerk said it was common practice for them to incentivize out-of-state utility workers to respond in the event of a power outage by offering such perks.”

Wyman wrote she hoped it was not common practice across the state, and wanted to alert Berry.

In a phone interview March 30, Wyman said, “It just didn’t seem right. In Appleton, we had older people still without power. Everybody here is on wells, and there is a local spring, but these were elderly people, hauling water from the spring just to flush their toilets. It couldn’t have been easy for them.” Wyman said she and her husband couldn’t miss the five or six utility trucks parked right outside the Samoset as they came in. “When we asked, the desk clerk made no bones about it. He said it was a great system, a quid pro quo.”

The Wiscasset Newspaper's calls and emails to Samoset Resort General Manager Connie Russell were not immediately returned.

When Berry distributed copies of the letter and asked about the practice, Rep. Jeff Hanley (R-Pittston) called for a five-minute caucus.  After the caucus, the two representatives from CMP, Manager of Community and Government Relations Joel Harrington and Vice President, Treasurer, Controller and Clerk Eric Stinneford acknowledged incidents like the one Wyman described had happened, although they said they had no knowledge of this one.

Stinneford said when the utility workers arrived from out of state, CMP was desperate to find them housing. “It was a destructive storm, and many hotels, motels, and restaurants, even if they were still open for the season, didn’t have power,” he said. The crews worked long emergency shifts – 17 hours on, and seven hours off, for days at a time. “We had them on Army cots in armories,” Stinneford said.

“I guess we could say not all mutual aid crews are created equal. Some did exactly what was asked and dealt with the accommodations we could provide. But some decided to go off the plan and make their own arrangements. If we learned about this sort of activity, those crews were sent home early.” He said he would look into the Samoset Resort issue and get back to Berry.

Other representatives objected to the line of questioning. “This is supposed to be about storm costs, not this kind of thing,” Rep. Beth O’Connor (R-Berwick) said. “I’ve met many linemen as a waitress, and I’ve never seen any of them request anything improper.” In addition to her legislative duties, O'Connor is a waitress and bartender at Fogarty's Restaurant in South Berwick.

Berry asked what the protocol was for establishing power. Harrington said the Maine Emergency Management Agency sets the protocols.

According to Susan Faloon at MEMA, once the transmission lines and local substations are restored, the first priority is dealing with emergency situations such as lines down or power arcs. “After that, critical services are restored,” she said. “Emergency services, including hospitals, fire departments, ambulance services, and police. Then the next step is restoring power to customers such as nursing homes, schools, and so on. After that, large circuits, with more customers, are restored before smaller ones with one or two.” She made it clear, in isolated cases, a town with little to no damage might have power restored before another one, even if the more damaged community had sensitive customers like nursing homes or day care centers. “In general, those are the protocols. People in very small circuits can expect to be out of power for a longer period of time.”

Editor's note: Heather Wyman has said she did not say "the Samoset pulled strings to get their power back," and she said "older," not "elderly" people in Appleton did not have their power back at the time.