It’s all well and good that Gov. Mills is giving most Mainers $450 to offset the rapidly rising cost of heat. But if Mills really wants to help struggling Mainers heat their homes, she should get out of the way and let us create the public power company the Legislature approved in 2021, only to have the bill then killed by a Mills veto.

A public utility could potentially save all Mainers considerably more than a one-off $450 payment. In the first three quarters of 2022, Iberdola, Central Maine Power’s Spanish-owned parent company, posted a $3.3 billion profit, up 29% over the same period last year. This while Mainers are facing huge increases in their power bills and resultant darkness and cold. Not only would a public power company very likely save Mainers considerable funds, it would keep our hard-earned money in Maine, instead of shipping it off to Spain.

With her $450, Gov. Mills may giveth, but she taketh away much more.

Lawrence Reichard

Belfast

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