Maine operates on Eastern Standard Time (EST) during winter months, which is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-5). During daylight saving time, observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, Maine switches to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which is UTC-4.
All of Maine follows the same time zone. Major cities including Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, and Auburn all observe Eastern Time. This makes scheduling across Maine straightforward, as there's no time difference within the state.
Maine is the easternmost US state. When it's 9 AM in Portland, the sun has been up longer here than anywhere else in the US. Maine's early sunrise times in summer make it ideal for early-bird business operations with Europe.