SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                              Washington, D. C. 20549


                                    FORM 8-K


                                 CURRENT REPORT


                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934


            Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 7, 1999


            Exact Name of
Commission  Registrant as                         IRS Employer      Registrants'
File        Specified in its    State of          Identification    Telephone
Number      Charter             Incorporation     Number            Number

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

001-14786   CMP Group, Inc.        Maine          01-0519429       207 623-3521

1-5139      Central Maine Power    Maine          01-0042740       207 623-3521
            Company


                            83 Edison Drive, Augusta,
                        Maine 04336 (Address of principal
                          executive offices) (zip code)





Item 1 through Item 4.  Not applicable.


Item 5.  Other Events.

On  April  7,  1999,   Central  Maine  Power  Company   ("CMP")   completed  the
previously-reported  $846.5 million sale of its non-nuclear generation assets to
FPL Energy,  Inc., a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. The generation assets include
hydro,  fossil and  biomass  generating  plants  with a total  capacity of 1,185
megawatts. CMP is purchasing energy from the plants included in the sale under a
related  agreement with FPL Energy,  Inc.,  until March 1, 2000, the date retail
access  to   generation   is   scheduled   to  begin  under  the  Maine's   1997
electric-utility restructuring legislation.

On April 12, 1999, CMP Group, Inc. ("CMP Group") issued the following release:

                   "CMP Group enjoys good ratings, sales boost

AUGUSTA,  Maine, April 12, 1999 -- In the wake of the state-required sale of its
power  plants,  CMP  Group's  principal  holding,  Central  Maine  Power Co., is
enjoying "A" ratings on its senior debt from all three major credit-rating firms
for the first time in a quarter-century.

CMP  received  more than $850  million from FPL Energy on April 6 in payment for
1,185 megawatts of hydroelectric, oil-fired, and biomass generating capacity and
associated  property.  A closing  ceremony  was held in Portland on April 7 with
Governor Angus S. King as a main speaker.  Noting that the  asset-sale  proceeds
will  permit  substantial  reductions  in CMP  debt  and  reduce  the  utility's
business-risk  profile,  the  Standard  &  Poor's,  Moody's,  and  Duff & Phelps
credit-rating firms each raised their ratings of CMP debt and preferred stock in
the days preceding the closing.

CMP is redeeming $119 million of mortgage bonds from the sale proceeds.  It will
also retire about $227 million of unsecured Medium-Term Notes and $10 million of
debt issued through pollution-control project bonds. CMP will also pay some $300
million of state and federal  taxes from the sale  proceeds.  Closing  costs and
energy  purchases  to  meet  supply   obligations  until  the  start  of  retail
competition on March 1, 2000, will absorb  additional  funds; the remainder will
be transferred to the CMP Group parent company.

`CMP's improved  credit ratings reflect the improvement in financial  health you
expect from  reducing  debt,  and the  reduction in perceived  risks from owning
generation,'  said CMP Group Chief  Financial  Officer David E. Marsh.  `But the
improvement  will help CMP  customers  as well as  investors:  the Maine  Public
Utilities  Commission has indicated that it intends to reflect these savings via
a  substantial  cut in CMP's  authorized  prices when it designs rates for March
2000 and beyond.'

Marsh said the CMP Group Board of Directors, which approved the debt redemptions
now under way, will consider uses of remaining sale proceeds,  including options
such as stock repurchases.

CMP's basic electricity business improved in the first-quarter,  Marsh said. The
2.32 billion  kilowatt-hours  sold in the first  quarter were 2.2 percent  above
same-period 1998 levels.  Meanwhile,  he added, `The ice-storm  disaster of 1998
didn't repeat itself,  and CMP also benefited  from  generally  better  weather,
continued  savings on charges from the closed Maine Yankee  nuclear  plant,  and
continued  success in managing  operations-and-maintenance  costs. The increased
sales and good cost trends at CMP will  significantly  improve our  earnings for
the first quarter of 1999.'

Marsh said  completing the sale of CMP's  non-nuclear  generation  assets to FPL
Energy had delayed the customary reporting of quarterly  financial results.  The
earnings  release  for the  quarter  ending  March 31,  1999,  is expected to be
available by April 27."

Item 6 through Item 9.  Not applicable.

                       -----------------------------------

This  report  contains  "forward-looking  statements"  as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain
risks and  uncertainties  that could cause actual  results to differ  materially
from those projected. Readers are therefore urged not to place undue reliance on
such  forward-looking  statements.  A number of factors  that could cause actual
results to differ  materially  from those projected in this report are listed in
the Annual Report on Form 10-K of CMP Group and CMP for the year ended  December
31, 1998.








         Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934,
each  Registrant  has duly  caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                           CMP GROUP, INC.



                           By /s/ David E. Marsh___________
                           David E. Marsh
                           Chief Financial Officer




                           CENTRAL MAINE POWER COMPANY



                           By /s/ Michael W. Caron_________
                           Michael W. Caron
                           Comptroller


Dated:  April 12, 1999