With greater regulatory muscle, Maine can check off some of the boxes that dominated the public power campaign.
Versant Power
Posted inBusiness, Election 2023, Local & State, News, Politics
After voters reject public power, Maine’s path to utility reform is unclear
One lawmaker is proposing performance-based ratemaking as a possible way to address problems highlighted by the failed campaign to take over Maine’s investor-owned utilities.
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Posted inElection 2023, Local & State, Politics
Effort to create Maine publicly owned electric utility fails
A proposal to create a publicly owned utility by taking over Maine’s 2 big investor-owned utilities failed by a wide margin in Tuesday voting.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Politics
Opponents of public utility takeover far outspend supporters as Election Day nears
The owners of Maine’s largest power companies have spent more than $37 million to defeat Question 3, while the leading supporter of a public utility takeover has spent just over $1 million.
Posted inBusiness, Election 2023, Politics
Loss of property tax looms over mayors’ Question 3 concerns
The mayors of nine cities say they fear losing property taxes if Question 3 passes, despite language in the enabling legislation that should prevent that from happening.
Posted inBusiness, Election 2023, Politics
Public power question sharpens voters’ concerns about what’s at stake
A proposal to take over the state’s two investor-owned utilities raises worries about reliability, politics, workers’ rights, lawsuits and costs. Some are still in the dark.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Question 3 aims to fix what’s wrong with CMP, Versant
Their rates are too high and their reliability is too low. And they’ve had plenty of time to fix both and haven’t.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Pine Tree Power not the answer to Maine’s utility challenges
Mainers want to save money, reduce outages and, focused on climate change, exert more control over grid decision-making. How do we best achieve those ends?
Posted inBusiness, Election 2023, Local & State, Politics
Question 3: What you need to know about the Pine Tree Power referendum
The highly contentious question would establish the framework for a new utility to deliver electricity in Maine.
Posted inBusiness, Election 2023, Local & State, Politics
Question 1: Voters would have a say in certain big spending
Conceived as a fail-safe in case Question 3 passes, Question 1 would require voter approval for certain government bodies to take on more than $1 billion in debt.