Power Outage Update for Bangor Area + Downeast Maine

It's been a week since an ice storm moved across Maine and caused thousands of power outages throughout the Bangor area and Downeast Maine.

As of 11 a.m., on Saturday, December 28th an estimated 4,122 households were without power, with 3,536 of those customers in Hancock County, 521 in Penobscot County and 65 in Washington County.

Here's the latest list of open shelters, as well as a live outage map from Bangor Hydro Electric Co.

Bangor Hydro officials say they are watching the weekend forecast closely and plan to keep additional crews on hand in case of more outages caused by the incoming storm, expected to bring up to 14 inches of snow to the state.

Gov. Paul LePage on Friday thanked crews for their efforts.

"Our Maine line and tree crews, and crews from at least 6 states and 2 Canadian provinces left their families at home at Christmas time to work long hours in the cold to support Maine people," he said. "That is a gift we are all grateful for."

Power is expected to be restored to all of Washington County by the end of the day today, Penobscot County by the end of the day tomorrow, and Hancock County by the end of the day on Wednesday. Once Washington County crews are finished with their work, they will be reassigned to Hancock County, the hardest hit by the outages.

Additionally, an outage in downtown Bangor this morning affecting about 1,000 customers was resolved in about three hours. It was caused by moisture in the electrical system and was related to the recent weather conditions, according to company officials.

Customers are asked to please don’t come up to line crews in the field and to ensure that if they are using generators that they are properly installed so they don’t backfeed into the system and are ventilated so as to negate any risks from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Customers may report outages or ask questions by calling Bangor Hydro's Customer Service Centers at 1-800-440-1111. Outages may also be reported at bangorhydro.com or the mobile site at bhe.com.m.