Central Maine power line workers speak March 25, 2023. Several dozen CMP workers have joined hundreds of other utility workers to help restore power to hurricane-hit parts of the South. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Several dozen power line workers in central Maine and others have joined hundreds of other utility workers to restore power in southern states where Hurricane Helene caused widespread power outages.

The Augusta-based utility sent 51 employees to North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday to deploy line workers and damage assessment teams. It’s part of the industry’s mutual aid network that benefited CMP customers as out-of-state workers helped restore power after an ice storm in March and a nor’easter in April.

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has exceeded 100. More than 2 million homeowners and other utility customers were without power Sunday evening, with South Carolina hardest hit. Agreements between utilities guarantee that workers from other states will help restore power when the in-state workforce is overwhelmed.

“Mutual support is an essential part of any large-scale power restoration effort,” said Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid Inc., CMP’s Connecticut-based parent company. The New York and Connecticut affiliates also sent crews to Virginia and North Carolina.

FirstEnergy Corp., an Ohio-based utility, said its electric companies sent about 200 line workers and support staff to help restore power to Duke Energy Carolinas and Georgia Power customers. Crews were dispatched from Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

A spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy said teams from 22 states and Canada were helping restore power.

Approximately 40 line crews and 20 support personnel from Eversource’s service area in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire helped restore power to Appalachian Power customers in Virginia.

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