A tree fell across a power line Tuesday evening, knocking out power to an estimated 24,000 customers in northern Maine, according to Emera Maine.
About 2,600 customers were still without power in the Caribou area at about 9 p.m.,, Emera spokesman Bob Potts reported in a press release Tuesday night.
The large scale outage started at about 5 p.m. with a majority of customers having their power restored by about 7 p.m., Potts said.
“Crews, who spent considerable time patrolling lines, discovered a fallen tree against a transmission line feeding the region,” he said in the release. System operators were able to reroute circuits along redundant power lines to restore electricity to most customers.
Power was expected to be restored to all customers by about 11 p.m.
When Potts issued the release at about 9:30 p.m,, the live outage map on the company’s website still indicated more than 11,000 people without power. The spokesman indicated that the site was displaying incorrect numbers “due to some technical issues.”
Towns from Stacyville in northern Penobscot to Fort Fairfield in Aroostook, including Presque Isle and Caribou, were affected by the outages.
In late August, more than 11,000 customers in northern Aroostook County lost power due to an outage that originated on a transmission line in New Brunswick, which is connected to northern Maine’s grid.
