I see Maine’s Public Advocate thinks CMP is wasting money in its storm response preparation (“CMP accused of overspending on storm recovery by $53.6 million,” Sept. 8). I, for one, am glad that CMP anticipates the needs of the state and secures supplemental staff in advance of large storms, especially those which hit during the holidays.

Every day we are encouraged to electrify things; the government provides rebates to buy an electric vehicle and convert your oil furnace into an electric heat pump. This is a well-motivated policy which could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it makes us more dependent on the electricity delivered by CMP and Versant. I guess the Public Advocate doesn’t care about that dependency, and he certainly isn’t on the other end of the phone when a customer calls CMP wondering when their power will be restored.

We’ve already seen the results of government tinkering with the power industry. Remember how the late 1990s deregulation of the electric industry promised lower rates and better service? How’s your standard offer rate these days? Surprise, surprise. No robust free market for power developed. How’s your service? Surprise, surprise. Once CMP was forced to sell off its profitable generating assets, the tattered remains of the company were bought by out-of-state and eventually out-of-country firms who had to find ways to make delivering our power economically feasible.

Our government advocate wants us to sit around during the holidays waiting days for our power to be restored because that’s written in some binder gathering dust in his office. And the Public Utilities Commission has failed to secure a standard offer service which protects us from the short-term whims of a badly dysfunctional generating market. Now we want to hand distribution of power to the same government? No thanks. They have done enough damage. Let’s let the professionals do what they can to keep our lights on, our vehicles charged and our heat pumps pumping.

Rocko Graziano

Readfield