Emergency Electrician in Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Flooding is the emergency this town knows best. If water has reached the panel, outlets or baseboard heaters, stay out of the wet area and do not touch the panel; call Central Maine Power to cut power at the meter, and call 911 if a line is down or anything is arcing. Salt water is especially hard on electrical equipment because it corrodes contacts and leaves conductive residue, so breakers, receptacles and wiring that were submerged usually need replacement, not just drying. After January 13, 2024, when water stood about two feet deep on one Ocean Park street, that was the question many owners faced. Once the utility has cut power, leave it off until the wiring has been checked, because restoring power to wet equipment is how a flood turns into a fire.

Wind brings a different call. A falling limb or a gust can pull the service drop and bend or tear the mast off a cottage wall. Who fixes what depends on where the damage sits. Central Maine Power's responsibility stops at the weatherhead and the meter; from the mast down through the meter socket, the entrance cable and the panel, the cottage owner is responsible, and only a licensed electrician may do that repair. Goodnow Electric takes emergency calls around the clock, rebuilds a torn mast or cracked socket on the cottage wall, gets the work permitted and inspected through the town, and coordinates the reconnection with the utility so power can come back.

Not every emergency comes with a storm. An outlet that sparks or feels hot, fuses that smell scorched, a panel with nothing live in it, or a main breaker that refuses to stay on each call for cutting power where that can be done safely, then phoning for help. In older cottages the usual causes are loose connections on aluminum or cloth-sheathed wiring, overloaded 60-amp services running space heaters in winter, and meter sockets that salt air has corroded from the inside. Making the house safe comes first; the permanent repair follows with a free written estimate. If only your house is dark while the neighbors have lights, the fault is usually on your side of the meter, and describing what you see at the panel and the meter from a safe distance helps an electrician arrive with the right parts.