Central Maine Power names new company president

By Leela Stockley, Bangor Daily News Staff

Central Maine Power has named a new company president, effective Sept. 8.

Linda Ball takes over the position from former president Joe Purington. Purington is now the CEO of Avangrid Networks, which operates Central Maine Power’s grid. 

Ball served as CMP’s vice president of customer service since 2019. 

“I’m honored to have been chosen to lead Central Maine Power. I started my career helping customers one-on-one, and that experience has shaped every step of my professional life,” Ball said Monday. “As we face increasingly severe storms and growing energy demands, continuing to invest in Maine’s energy grid is more critical than ever for resilience, reliability, and 21st century modernization.” 

The company has had to raise rates multiple times over the past few years due in part to costs of storm damage to the grid, with the most recent rate hike taking effect in July.

​​CMP’s increase was driven primarily by storm recovery costs, though associated storms with damage exceeding $15 million were spread over a two-year period, according to the Maine Public Utilities Commission.