BANGOR, Maine — Emera Maine repair crews are on their way back from Delaware, one of the East Coast states battered by last weekend’s deadly blizzard.
“We sent 28 line workers, 12 bucket trucks, three supervisors and one mechanic,” spokesman Bob Potts said Sunday afternoon. “They went to Delmarva Power in Delaware. They are on their way back. We expect them home tonight around midnight.”
Delmarva Power is an electric utility serving more than 500,000 customers in Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland.
The Emera Maine convoy left Maine on Friday morning in anticipation of extensive power outages from the winter storm that moved across the Mid-Atlantic states into the weekend, putting more than 65 million Americans under blizzard warnings from the District of Columbia to New York City.
After pitching in for part of the weekend, Emera Maine crews were cut loose, Potts said.
As it turned out, Delmarva Power had more crews on standby than were needed, Potts said, adding that it is better to be over prepared when major storms strike.
“We were glad to have been a help, even if for just a day or so,” Potts said shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday. “According to Delmarva’s website, they only have less than 50 people out at this hour.”
Both Emera Maine and Delmarva Power are part of the North Atlantic Mutual Aid Group, or NAMAG, a group of utilities that provide backup for one another during large storms and outage events, Potts said.
Emera Maine, he noted, has been on the receiving end of assistance in recent years during large storms. Just two weeks ago, crews from Atlantic Canada and elsewhere in Maine helped workers restore power to thousands of Emera Maine customers following a large wind storm.
Any costs associated with sending Emera Maine crews to Delaware will be absorbed by Delmarva Power customers. Emera Maine customers will not be affected, Potts said.