SANFORD — Central Maine Power customers in Sanford, Lebanon and eventually, the Berwicks, should be experiencing a more reliable utility at the completion of a $42.5 million project in 2016.
Work on a new substation in Lebanon and two others ”“ one the utility calls the Sanford Switch and a new Berwick substation ”“ began in the fall of 2013. The Sanford Switch went on line last fall, according to CMP spokeswoman Gail Rice, and the Berwick substation is due to go into service in 2016. The project includes a new seven-mile, 34,500-volt transmission line CMP says will feed the new Berwick substation.
Crews put the utility’s new Lebanon Substation into service, along with an 11-mile 34.5-kilovolt transmission line connecting the new facility with the Butler’s Corner substation, in Sanford at the end of last year.
“Once these reinforcements are complete, customers in the area should experience fewer service interruptions and quicker service when outages do occur,” Rice said in a prepared statement. “These investments will also provide additional capacity to support growth well into the future.”
The Lebanon substation includes a 34.5-12.47 kV transformer; a 50 KVA station service transformer; two 12.47 kV distribution breakers; numerous switches and disconnects; and a control house equipped with new protection, control and automation systems, Rice explained. The substation yard will have room for a future 34.5 kV transmission line circuit and two additional 12.47 kV distribution
circuit positions.
CMP broke ground on the project in the fall of 2011. The first phase of included expansion of the Bassett substation in Berwick, construction of a 2.3-mile transmission line feeding Bassett from the utility’s Quaker Hill substation in North Berwick, and improvements to roadside distribution lines supplied from that substation.
CMP president Sara Burns said the investment represents a portion of the upgrades to the utility’s system.
“With the support of our parent company Iberdrola USA, CMP invested nearly $275 million in 2014 building a stronger, smarter grid for Maine,” said Burns. “Our investments in southwestern York County and elsewhere ensure long-term grid reliability and capacity for growth.”
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less