CMP line crews upgrading powerline in Rumford

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Rumford Central Maine Power linemen Jerry Phillips, left, of Phillips, and Cory Greenleaf of Wilton install new electrical equipment for a new dual-circuit distribution line Wednesday along Route 2 on Falls Hill in Rumford. 

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

A Rumford Central Maine Power line crew installs new dual-circuit equipment for new transmission lines on Wednesday morning atop poles lining Route 2 on the downhill side of Falls Hill opposite the Androscoggin River at Pennacook Falls Dam. Gail Rice, a CMP spokeswoman in Augusta, said the project is a distribution system line upgrade or build-over. When completed, she said the new system will make it a lot easier for line crews to maintain and restore power, because unlike the smaller poles, which carry power lines across the river and through remote woods along Route 108, the new system will only be placed along roadsides from Rumford to Dixfield and up to Roxbury. More extensive upgrades are coming in November and next year for two electricity substations in Rumford to better handle electricity delivery from the new Record Hill Wind LLC wind farm, currently under construction on Roxbury hills, Rice added.

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Rumford Central Maine Power Co. linemen Jerry Phillips, left, of Phillips, and Cory Greenleaf of Wilton, maneuver their buckets into place on Wednesday morning high above Route 2 on Falls Hill in Rumford. They were installing new dual-circuit equipment atop taller poles during a distribution system line upgrade. Behind them working on other poles are linemen Eric Hawthorne of Turner and Sebastian Lombardi of Jay.