PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 25, 2025
Mainers and New Englanders at large were cranking air-conditioning units and fans Tuesday to try to sweat out the record heat that swept through the Northeast. The result of all that power usage? The highest amount of electricity the region has utilized at peak hours since 2013, as well as a low-level emergency that let operators activate reserve resources. Maine saw temperatures in the high 90s, with humidity driving the heat index well into the 100s. Numerous cities and towns hit triple digits, either breaking, equaling or coming within shouting distance of heat records. That included Portland, which hit 99 degrees, and Fryeburg, which hit 100 — both records for June 24. Augusta also reached a 100-degree high, while the Lewiston-Auburn area came just shy at 99 degrees.