LEWISTON – A handful of homes and businesses went dark early Wednesday when an underground shortage caused a power outage in the downtown area.

A Central Maine Power Co. spokesman did not know how many customers were affected during the 4 a.m. outage. It was not believed to be a significant number.

Businesses including the Sun Journal lost power for more than two hours until the problem was repaired about 7 a.m. It was unclear exactly what caused the outage.

The CMP spokesman said crews were called out to several parts of the state in the early morning after a passing storm caused outages in several cities and towns. Most areas had power again by the middle of the afternoon.