Power outage strikes more than 11,000 in northern Aroostook

Caribou, like many Maine cities, receives their power from Emera Maine. This grid, located on 186 Washburn Street, provides the electrical framework for the city's infrastructure, lighting up America's most northeastern city at night and powering a plethora of homes and public buildings.

CARIBOU, Maine — More than 11,000 customers of Emera Maine in northern Aroostook County lost power for about an hour Tuesday morning.

According to Emera Maine’s outage report, 11,405 customers lost power at 9:25 a.m. Tuesday when a transmission line serving the area “tripped.” By 10:30 a.m. power was restored, although the cause of the outage was unclear.

“The issue was on the Canadian side of the border and the cause remains unknown,” said Emera Maine in a statement.

Northern Maine’s power grid is connected to New Brunswick, Canada, with some of Aroostook County’s electricity originating from the Tinker Dam on the Aroostook River across the border from Fort Fairfield.

The households and businesses affected by the brief outage Tuesday spanned communities from Caribou north to New Sweden, Allagash and Madawaska, according to the Emera’s website.

In Madawaska, where middle and high school students are back in school, superintendent Gisele Dionne said her staff were preparing bagged lunches for students and were planning to send them home at noon if power had not been restored.

Writer Don Eno of the St. John Valley Times contributed to this report.