Longtime CMP leader David Flanagan remembered as 'problem solver,' crisis manager

Courtesy / CMP David Flanagan, who led Central Maine Power through a range of challenges, died at 74.

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By Jessica Hall

David Flanagan, known for his dry wit, direct approach and leading Central Maine Power Co. through mergers and crises, died on Thursday due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 74.

Flanagan, who ran for governor as an independent candidate in 2002 and was long-time philanthropist and education leader, first joined CMP’s legal department in 1984. He led the state’s largest utility as president and CEO from 1994 to 2000 and was recruited out of retirement to serve as executive chairman from February 2020 to September 2021.

“David Flanagan was a proven problem solver; an honest troubleshooter; a corporate and community activist; an investigator of ice storms and institutions of higher learning; an expert on the Washington County economy, cyber security clusters, public reserved lands, utility deregulation, spruce budworm epidemics, public housing, early childhood education and ships in bottles,” said Gov. Janet Mills.

“In our fifty years of friendship, I always saw in him the same spirit of adventure, inquiry and honesty as when we first met,” Mills said.

Customers and the communities served by CMP were always a primary focus and passion for Flanagan. Upon becoming CEO in 1994, he paid immediate attention to managing customer rates in a challenging regulatory environment.

In a complete overhaul of the rate-setting process, Flanagan and CMP worked with the Maine Public Utilities Commission and the Office of the Public Advocate to develop an indexed price-cap system in 1995 that within a few years reflected a decline in the real price of electricity.

“David was always steps ahead and always thinking about our customers,” said Joe Purington, president and CEO of CMP. “David was humble...he earned the respect of our employees — many of whom, like me, worked with him when he was first with the company — and he made an impression upon everyone he met.”

In 1998, Flanagan led CMP through an ice storm that crippled the state, working closely with then-governor U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who called him a friend, a leader and a solid citizen of Maine.

“In the midst of a crisis, he was the partner you wanted by your side. The ice storm of 1998 was one of the most serious challenges our state has ever faced — and during that perilous moment, David was tireless in working to help Maine people in need,” King said.

“David’s contributions to this effort were so vital that I once interrupted a live television interview to answer his call, with no hesitation whatsoever,” King added.

Flanagan oversaw the lengthy process to sell the CMP’s energy generation assets in the late 1990’s following the passage of state law that restructured the energy industry in Maine, separating energy generation from electricity distribution.

In 1999, Flanagan closed the transaction that merged CMP into Energy East, a New York-based company that owned NY Electric and Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric. Energy East was later acquired by Iberdrola SA to become Iberdrola USA and then Avangrid following the merger with UIL Holdings in 2015.

Flanagan retired from CMP in 2000, but was recruited back to rejoin the company in February as executive chairman, dedicating his time to rebuilding customer trust in the company following the faulty roll out of a new billing system in fall 2017.

“We are so fortunate that David chose to rejoin CMP out of his enduring concern for the employees, customers and communities across the 11,000 square miles CMP serves. He felt very strongly about the good people who work tirelessly in storms and challenging situations to provide reliable power, and also understood that everyone at CMP focuses every day on doing their jobs right and putting the customer first,” said Catherine Stempien, CEO of Avangrid Networks.

Over the past 18 months Flanagan led CMP’s response to COVID-19, hired more than 100 people to address the unprecedented surge in requests from renewables developers to connect to the grid, oversaw the reorganization of the customer service area, hired a sustainability manager and constantly focused the company on meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

In CMP communities, Flanagan authorized large donations for hunger relief when COVID first hit and donated surplus masks to Maine’s first responders when they were in short supply. He created partnerships with Equality Maine, the Travis Mills Foundation and other community organizations.

His interests ranged from serving as chairman of the Maine chapter of the Nature Conservancy, to being CEO and director of Preservation Management Inc., an affordable housing group, to being an advocate with his wife, Kaye, for the Augusta-based Children’s Center, which serves children with developmental disabilities.

“His life was defined by countless contributions to his fellow Mainers and to our country in his many roles as chief counsel to a Maine governor, CEO of Maine’s largest utility, counsel for a U.S. Senate committee investigation, and president of the University of Southern Maine,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

“No matter the challenge, David would use his leadership talents to make a positive difference. David’s and his wife Kaye's philanthropy also improved the lives of many Mainers and will be a part of his lasting legacy,” Collins said.

Born in Bangor in 1947, the eldest of eight children, Flanagan later graduated from Harvard University in 1969. He earned a master's degree at the University of London, Kings College, and graduated from Boston College Law School in 1973.

“David had something to teach all of us and we are all better having worked with him. He touched so many people and organizations in Maine, and we join all of them in saying that we will miss him, and we will do our best to honor his legacy in the way we serve our customers and communities every day,” Stempien said.