In his Sept. 11 letter, former Rep. Seth Berry says Maine ratepayers should “… switch to a proven, superior and trusted business model” without adding any proof at all (except more proof that his hatred for CMP is fueling his fight for government-controlled power).

Maine electric ratepayers should not be saddled with billions of dollars in debt to become the guinea pigs of the country’s largest government takeover of privately owned utilities. If someone tells you it’s a good idea, ask them if any state’s entire electric grid has ever been seized in such a way before. The answer is no.

We all need to understand that, as ratepayers, this debt goes on our backs. A loan this large will take us decades to repay and will end up costing each of us over $17,000.

A brand new government entity will take these billions of borrowed dollars and use them to forcibly purchase all the assets of the state’s two private utility companies: poles, wires and technology, but also billing systems, customer support centers, trucks and equipment, everything right down to paper clips and staplers. And then what? Turn around and hire a third party to operate it. What is the point?

I am not at all comfortable authorizing politicians and bureaucrats to borrow that much money to buy out companies at such an enormous cost to us. If it happens, I predict we will continue to see borrowing on top of borrowing. That is exactly what happened on Long Island, New York, where those poor ratepayers have been financing and refinancing debt for over 20 years.

We need to make sure this nonsense does not move forward here.

Dan Albert

Farmingdale