Augusta, Maine (AP) Central Maine Power says it’s making improvements to its smart meter network to ensure that they continue operating in a power outage.

CMP said Wednesday that wireless hubs used to communicate with meters are now wired for backup generators, and that there will be some solar-powered backup power by year’s end.

The system was called into question during an October storm that knocked out power to more than 450,000 CMP customers, making the largest outage on record for CMP.

Critics say smart meter communication was interrupted by the storm, causing confusion and delay repairs. CMP disagreed but said the system can be improved.

CEO Doug Herling said technology is constantly changing, “and we will always seek ways to make good technology work even better for us and our customers.”