The corporate opponents to Question 3 have spent $34 million and counting trying to buy “no” votes on the measure to replace Maine’s two investor-owned electric utility corporations, CMP and Versant, with a nonprofit company. Voters in Maine have noticed the flood of fliers in our mail and the polished media spots online and on television. We won’t fall for the corporate-supported slick and expensive messaging. The truth of the matter is that when the ballot measure passes, a process will be put into place to transition responsibility for electrical service to a nonprofit company, Pine Tree Power. Pine Tree Power will manage electrical service as a publicly owned utility, and rather than pocketing the $188 million in profits that CMP and Versant enjoyed last year, that kind of money will be used to lower costs to customers and improve our electrical grid and customer service.

Consumer-owned utility projects thrive across the U.S. In Nebraska, no for-profit utilities have operated since the 1940s. Residents in Nebraska have much lower electrical service rates and enjoy reliable service. Nebraska demonstrates that elected boards can successfully manage public utilities.

Please vote “yes” on Question 3.

Karen Kusiak 

Fairfield