CARRABASSETT VALLEY –- “It’s not a common occurrence, but this one just happened to be untimely,” said Central Maine Power spokesman John Carroll. A portion of the protection and control system located at the Bigelow Substation failed last Saturday, Dec. 19. “It was just bad timing for the ski mountain,” Carroll added.

The failed equipment caused a power outage in the towns of Carrabassett, Eustis, Wyman, Coplin and parts of Kingfield. The outage, depending on where you lived or worked, happened around 11:20 a.m. and came back on at 3:45 p.m.

This affected many businesses in the area during a busy Saturday morning and afternoon including Sugarloaf.

Carroll said he did not think that the CMP failed equipment related to any of the line upgrades as a result of the Kibby Wind Project. “There is no association with new construction,” Carroll explained.

Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin said their first concern was to get all the skiers off the nine lifts that were running that day using ancillary power. “Fortunately it was not very cold or windy that day and all skiers and riders were eventually discharged.”

Sugarloaf’s second concern was that they were making snow all over the mountain that day. When they lost power they immediately needed to drain the snowmaking lines.

Austin said that crews worked quickly and no damage was sustained.

“All-in-all it’s unfortunate that it happened on a busy Saturday, but I feel we responded well,” Austin said. “Overall the feeling we got from our guests was that they understood and their feelings remained positive.”

“We had just set up a soup and sandwich buffet when the power went out,” said Arthur Operlerchner owner of the Shipyard Brew Haus. He said he was fortunate to have been all set, but was affected as a business, because many people decided to go home.

Outdoor Center supervisor John MacDonald said the outage was a challenge, but the Bull Moose remained open with back-up power. “We just wanted to make sure we were following procedure and putting out a good product.”

Saturday was the High School Kick- Off Nordic race hosted by the Mt. Abram Ski Team. The girls 4.5 K freestyle kicked off at 11 when the power failed. Over 200 racers from 17 schools were at the Outdoor Center. “We had 300 to 400 people here that day,” MacDonald said. “The Nordic racers and family members were very understanding and helpful and our staff did an awesome job that day being resourceful. The Mt. Abram High School team did a great job as the host team. We were very fortunate,” MacDonald added. A generator was used to power timing equipment for the racers and the entire event was a success.

Carroll said that 3,554 customers were affected by the outage. At 1:33 p.m., 1,149 customers were back on. The balance had to wait until 3:45 to regain power.

“It’s definitely put a pinch on business. We could only serve cold items,” a Gepetto’s bartender said. “We kept the doors open, but it was just not the same.”

Saturday was considered the first big weekend day of the season and had a good crowd buzzing around Carrabassett Valley.