A utility pole hangs in the middle of Bradman Street in Auburn on Oct. 12, 2024, after a storm. Central Maine Power Co. says it spent $24.5 million to clean up and restore power after three storms in late 2024, including the one on Oct. 12. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal, file

Central Maine Power Co. spent $24.5 million to clean up and restore power following three storms last year, the utility told Maine regulators Thursday in an initial estimate that does not calculate the impact on ratepayers.

The storms on Oct. 12 and Nov. 28 each knocked out power to more than 120,000 customers, the utility said in its filing to the state Public Utilities Commission, while a storm on Dec. 11 caused 91,000 outages. CMP serves about 635,000 customers.

CMP told regulators that a “more accurate cost determination and additional supporting details” would be included in annual storm cost reporting, to be submitted by March 1.

Power was out for two days each during the Oct. 12 and Nov. 28 storms, and about a day and a half on Dec. 11, according to CMP. Costs attributed to the Oct. 12 storm were $5.4 million, $10 million for Nov. 28 and $9.1 million for Dec. 11.

The tab submitted last year to regulators was $220 million for storms in 2022 and 2023. Ratepayers are being billed about $10.29 a month in a rate that took effect last July 1 to pay for those cleanup and restoration costs.

Seth Berry, a former state lawmaker who chaired the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee and is a critic of CMP and Versant Power, said it’s “critically important” that the PUC and the newly installed public advocate, Heather Sanborn, scrutinize the costs “very carefully.”

A Thanksgiving day rainstorm in much of southern Maine switched to snow in most places. Forecasters warned about a combination of wet, heavy snow and gusty winds that threatened power lines.

The October storm brought winds of up to 45 mph. Heavy rain and strong winds caused outages in the December storm. Utilities and their customers were relieved that it was not as destructive as a fatal December 2023 storm that cut power to 400,000 customers.

A spokeswoman said Versant Power does not submit annual storm cost estimates to the PUC, except as part of distribution rates or for approval for storm costs. The utility, which serves 165,000 ratepayers in eastern and northern Maine, is seeking $24.4 million for “extraordinary” costs to restore power following two storms in December 2023 and January 2024.

CMP’s storm-related costs were $32.3 million in 2014 and were less the following year when Maine was not affected by major storms, and again in 2018 when recovery costs were $4.5 million, and in 2021 when costs were about $11 million.

However, since 2019, storm costs have risen from $37.5 million to $71.8 million in 2020, $119 million in 2022 and to $161.7 million in 2023, according to data from CMP last year.

The Legislature and PUC have directed the utilities to strengthen the grid against the increasing frequency and severity of storms. Citing the Governor’s Energy Office, the PUC said “Maine recently endured significant extreme weather events” and effective grid planning must promote increased resilience and reliability.