Central Maine Power Adds All-Terrain Bucket Trucks to Improve Storm Response

If you’ve ever wondered how Central Maine Power crews get power back on when outages happen way off the beaten path, think snowmobile trails, deep woods, and places where Google Maps politely gives up, here’s part of your answer.

According to a press release sent to us from Central Maine Power, CMP has added four brand-new all-terrain track bucket trucks to its fleet, and these things are basically the Swiss Army knives of storm response. Built by Prinoth, the tracked trucks are designed to crawl through snow, mud, and rough terrain while still lifting crews up to 55 feet in the air to work on power lines.

Translation? Fewer delays, faster repairs, and better access to some of the most remote corners of Maine, which is no small thing when your service territory spans 11,000 square miles and serves more than 660,000 customers.

The new trucks also come with cold-weather tech to make sure they actually start on those brutally cold Maine mornings, and their compact track design helps reduce ground damage while navigating tight rights-of-way. They can be used on both transmission and distribution lines, even while energized, meaning crews can sometimes make repairs without interrupting service.

“These vehicles expand our fleet and strengthen our ability to serve customers in every corner of Maine,” said Eric Sutton, Vice President of Electric Operations and Projects for CMP, noting they’ve already been a major help during this winter’s challenging weather.

CMP, which is a subsidiary of Avangrid, now operates more than 800 vehicles and trailers statewide, maintaining roughly 25,000 miles of power lines, including nearly 3,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

Bottom line: when the next storm hits and the lights flicker somewhere deep in the Maine woods, there’s a good chance one of these tracked beasts is already on the way.