Seawall Campground · Photo: Suekoehler · CC BY-SA 4.0Living in Southwest Harbor, ME: what to set up and who to call
Voting is local here: the Southwest Harbor Town Clerk registers voters and runs elections, not the county. Two school districts split the grades in Southwest Harbor: Mount Desert Community School District and Southwest Harbor.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Southwest Harbor, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Southwest Harbor.
Power comes from Versant Power
Versant Power (Versant Power), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Southwest Harbor. Its homes paid an average of 30.1¢ per kWh in 2025, about $150 a month (its average across Maine, for customers on its standard service). Maine lets you buy power from another supplier; 5% of Versant Power’s home customers do, and Versant Power still delivers it.
Start or move service: versantpower.com · (207) 945-5621
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Southwest Harbor Water & Sewer District
Southwest Harbor Water & Sewer District supplies Southwest Harbor: about 66% of residents live in its service area. About 34% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws surface water and serves 2,480 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 78% of the 7,966 systems serving 1,001–3,300 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2022–Dec 2024, was 2.1 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. The highest in five years was 5.9 ppb. That’s higher than 74% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. ME0091490.
3 home internet providers serve Southwest Harbor
97% of 1,230 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 1% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | Cable, Fiber | 97% | 1,000/50 |
| Consolidated Communications | DSL | 60% | 60/10 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 36% | 25/3 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Southwest Harbor’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Southwest Harbor.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Southwest Harbor is in two districts that split the grades: Mount Desert Community School District and Southwest Harbor.
ASchool gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Oct 2026; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Southwest Harbor is in ZIP code 04679
ZIP codes where Southwest Harbor residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Southwest Harbor | ZIP’s residents in Southwest Harbor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04679 | Southwest Harbor, ME | 100% | 100% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Southwest Harbor
Who supplies Southwest Harbor’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Southwest Harbor Water & Sewer District (EPA ID ME0091490). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 78% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 2.1 ppb (Jan 2022–Dec 2024), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Southwest Harbor?
Versant Power (Versant Power), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 30.1¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Southwest Harbor?
Spectrum, Consolidated Communications, AT&T (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Southwest Harbor?
04679. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Southwest Harbor in?
Mount Desert Community School District and Southwest Harbor.
How do I register to vote in Southwest Harbor?
In Maine you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (received 21 days before). Elections here are run by the Southwest Harbor Town Clerk. Check your registration at maine.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.