A break-in at a power substation in Newport Friday morning left nearly 3,000 Central Maine Power customers in the Newport area without power while the repairs were completed, a company official said.
Police are investigating the break-in, as well as an earlier one from last month at that substation. Copper wiring was stolen in both cases, said Newport Police Chief Leonard Macdaid. Repairs in the earlier break-in did not require that power be turned off, he said.
Power was restored about 11:45 a.m. to 2,971 customers in Corinna, Etna, Newport, Palmyra, Plymouth, St. Albans and Stetson, according to Gail Rice, CMP spokeswoman.
“The station was left in a very unsafe condition, with ground wires cut and left on the ground,” she said. “The people who did this were extremely lucky not to have been seriously injured or killed.”