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.
Versant Power
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Commentary: With so much uncertainty, Pine Tree Power is a bad deal for Maine
Do we really want to be on the hook for ensuing litigation and billions of dollars in unpredictable costs?
Mills urges voters to reject public utility takeover
The governor cited uncertainty about the long-term benefits of Pine Tree Power, and its initial cost.