Harpswell residents may spend less time in the dark after major storms in the future, as Central Maine Power plans to install new “smart grid” technology in the coming year.
The utility said it plans to introduce devices that will help lessen the impact and shorten the duration of outages associated with severe weather events.
“In the face of stronger and more frequent storms, CMP is making investments in grid hardening and automation in the Harpswell area,” CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said in an email.
In 2025, the utility plans to install eight “supervisory control and data acquisition,” or SCADA, devices, Breed said. “These smart grid technologies will help minimize the size and duration of power outages, especially during storms.”
Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said she welcomes any action by CMP that results in faster power restoration after storms.
She said the utility is expected to further improve the grid’s resiliency at some point by connecting the two main circuits in Harpswell across the Ewing Narrows Bridge on Mountain Road. The bridge connects Great Island to Harpswell Neck.
“Extending three-phase power along Mountain Road has been part of that process,” Eiane said in an email, referring to a recent upgrade to add capacity and improve reliability. “The town has not been provided with a timeline for when that connection may/will happen.”
Breed said adding the SCADA devices is a critical first step before any future work to connect the two circuits. “The assessment, engineering, and design of a subsequent circuit tie would need to take place after these switches are installed next year,” he said.
Storm-related power outages are a common occurrence in Harpswell. For example, a March 2024 storm that dumped about 6 inches of snow on the Midcoast region, along with sleet and freezing rain, knocked out power to the entire town.
Two days later, about 2,400 of CMP’s 4,760 customers in Harpswell were still without power. Most customers had their power restored by the third day.
Harpswell Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson said the utility’s upgrade plans were welcome news. “If this is something CMP wants to do, anything that helps our little town is great,” he said.
There’s a perception among some Harpswell residents that the town is usually the first to lose power and last to have it restored following a major weather event.
But Johnson questioned the reality of that view and said CMP generally does a good job for Harpswell, which poses a perennial challenge because of its abundance of trees.
“We have a lot more trees now than we did 60, 70 years ago, when I was a little fella,” he said. “People don’t realize that trees take down power lines, and everybody loves their trees.”
The book “Power System SCADA and Smart Grids,” by Mini Thomas and John Douglas McDonald, describes SCADA systems as integral to modernizing and enhancing the resilience of power grids.
By installing the devices, utilities such as CMP can achieve real-time monitoring and control over various components of the electrical distribution network, allowing for rapid detection and isolation of faults.
The systems gather data from sensors and circuit breakers and then transmit it to the utility’s control center, where operators can quickly respond.
According to Thomas and McDonald, the systems enable utilities to quickly identify affected areas and reroute power to maintain service continuity for as many customers as possible.
“This proactive approach not only enhances reliability but also improves operational efficiency by minimizing manual interventions and reducing restoration times,” the authors wrote.
The deployment of SCADA devices is a key component of grid-hardening strategies aimed at making power infrastructure more robust against natural disasters, they said.
By integrating advanced automation technologies, utilities can better anticipate and respond to disruptions, ensuring a more stable and reliable power supply for the communities they serve.
Harpswell Fire Administrator and Emergency Management Agent Mike Drake said the technology may offer some limited benefit to the town’s first responders. By knowing which circuits are dead, they can work more safely and efficiently when clearing downed trees.
Still, Drake said the primary advantage will be to residents, in the form of fewer outages with shorter durations following major storms.
“It wouldn’t affect our emergency response as much, but it would greatly benefit the citizens of Harpswell,” he said.
