PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 22, 2021
We built a new home near the coast in Biddeford in 1997. One morning, ceiling fans started whirring, TVs started playing and we smelled burning wires. Our electrician told us to call Central Maine Power. CMP said the transformer had failed and we had an “open neutral” forcing a power surge into our home. CMP assured us all damages, amounting to over $10,000, would be covered. A year later, the same problem occurred and we had to go through the same routine. The work order to repair the transformer from the year earlier had been lost and the repairs never were completed! Once again, we were assured our damages would be covered. We filed a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission. A CMP engineer off the record told us this failure was common along the coast, but CMP found it cheaper to pay claims than replace the faulty parts. Do I trust CMP? ~ Ken Buechs, Biddeford