South Portland, Maine Power Outage Today

How reliable is Central Maine Power service in South Portland?

Central Maine Power is an investor-owned utility with 679,726 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 3.37 interruptions and 1,894 minutes (about 32 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 9.4 hours.

About 89% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 215 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Central Maine Power customers, they stayed out for about 9.4 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Maine as a whole averaged 1,749 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 3 utilities in Maine with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Central Maine Power ranks 3rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 5% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in South Portland

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 199 storm reports for Cumberland County from 2015 through 2025, most often thunderstorm wind (141), hail (20), flash flood (18), and flood (16). The busiest full year was 2016 with 40 reports and the quietest was 2019 with 4, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (69 since 2015), followed by August and June. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 17 storm episodes in Cumberland County since 2015, most often in December. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in South Portland do to the grid:

• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.
• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.

Storm reports that name South Portland

Within Cumberland County, 3 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name South Portland as their location or in their description: flash flood (2) and thunderstorm wind (1). That is about 2% of the county’s reports, so most of the county’s weather history happened elsewhere.

Who a power outage hits hardest in South Portland

Home heating in South Portland is mixed: 18.1% of occupied homes use electricity (US 41.3%) and 34.2% use piped natural gas. Either way, furnaces and heat pumps need grid power to run, so a winter outage means a cold house for most households.

Residents aged 65 or older are 20.7% of the population in South Portland, above the US share of 17.2% and 13.2% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Central Maine Power whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 51.1% of the housing in South Portland was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages; 17.4% of homes are in buildings with 20 or more units (US 10.3%), where an outage also stops elevators and water pumps, which matters for upper floors and anyone who cannot use stairs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in South Portland

The average Central Maine Power home used about 557 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 23.4 cents per kWh (23.9 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $131 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 9.4 hours takes about 3.7 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in South Portland

About 26,498 people live in South Portland, the 4th largest of the 4 Maine cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Central Maine Power’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

South Portland power outage map

Central Maine Power’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

South Portland power outage questions