65-407-815 Me. Code R. § 14
The term "interruption" in this subsection means either a cessation of service or a substantial degradation in the quality of service normally provided. A Utility may temporarily interrupt service when it is necessary to repair or maintain the Utility delivery system (planned or unplanned); to eliminate an imminent threat to life, health, safety or substantial property damage; or for reasons of local, state or national emergency. Whenever a Utility performs any of these tasks, the Utility must take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of its Customers and to protect Customers' property against damage.
When the Utility schedules a service interruption for maintenance or repairs, the Utility must give reasonable notice of the cause and expected duration of the interruption to Customers and occupants who may be affected. If the service interruption is scheduled to affect more than 10 Customers or Customers receiving service at the transmission or sub- transmission level, or last more than five hours, reasonable notice means three days if feasible, but 24 hours at a minimum. In other cases reasonable notice means notice as soon as practicable.
When service is interrupted without notice for more than five hours, u Utilities must make reasonable efforts to notify other affected Customers and Occupants of the cause and expected duration of the interruption through general notification means such as posting outage information on a website and making outage information available to Customers that call the Utility. Further, transmission and distribution utilities must attempt to notify directly those Customers who have informed the Utility of the presence of life support systems or other special needs that depend on Utility service of the cause and expected duration of the outage.
Notice required by paragraphs A and B can be given by the method best suited to the nature of the interruption, the size of the area affected, the time of year, and the resources available to the Utility.
A transmission and distribution Utility must solicit Applicants and Customers to report the presence of life support systems, pursuant to Section 5(A)(11). Once reported, the transmission and distribution Utility must identify these Customers in its billing system, outage restoration system, and at the Customer's meter.
65-407 C.M.R. ch. 815, § 14