An Act To Increase the Safety of Municipal Residents by Allowing Municipalities To Address Downed Wires in Extended Power Outages

Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §3111  is enacted to read:

§ 3111.  Extended power outages

In the event of a power outage of 5 or more days, a municipality may hire appropriately licensed professionals to address power, telephone and similar lines that have been felled by weather events and that are preventing access to roadways within the municipality. A municipality's costs pursuant to this section must be paid by the municipality, but the municipality may apply to receive compensation from the local electric utility, the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency or another funding source.

SUMMARY

This bill allows a municipality, in the event of a power outage of 5 or more days, to hire appropriately licensed professionals to address power, telephone and similar lines that have been felled by weather events and that are preventing access to roadways within the municipality. It allows a municipality to apply to receive compensation from the local electric utility, the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency or another funding source.