Central Maine Power line workers talk on March 25, 2023. Several dozen CMP workers have joined hundreds of other utility workers to help restore power in hurricane-drenched parts of the South. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Several dozen Central Maine Power line workers and others have joined hundreds of other utility workers restoring electricity in southern states where Hurricane Helene has caused widespread power outages.

The Augusta-based utility on Saturday sent 51 staffers to North Carolina and Virginia to deploy line workers and damage assessment teams. It’s part of the industry’s mutual aid network that benefited CMP customers when out-of-state workers helped restore electricity following an ice storm in March and a nor’easter in April.

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has exceeded 100. More than 2 million homeowners and other utility customers were without power Sunday night, with South Carolina the most affected. Agreements among utilities guarantee out-of-state workers to help restore power when an in-state workforce is stretched thin.

“Mutual assistance is an essential part of any wide-scale power restoration effort,” said Pedro Azagra, chief executive officer of Avangrid Inc., CMP’s Connecticut-based parent company. Its New York and Connecticut subsidiaries also sent crews to Virginia and North Carolina.

FirstEnergy Corp., an Ohio-based utility, said its electric companies have sent about 200 line workers and support personnel to help restore power for customers of Duke Energy Carolinas and Georgia Power. Crews were dispatched from Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

A spokesperson for Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said crews from 22 states and Canada were helping restore power.

About 40 line crews and 20 support workers from Eversource’s service territory in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire helped restore power for Appalachian Power customers in Virginia.