Lawmakers propose state takeover of CMP, Versant Power
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Maine's two investor-owned electric utility companies, Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power, would be replaced by a nonprofit, consumer-owned one under a proposal announced Monday.
A bipartisan group of Maine legislators on Monday proposed that the state replace its two investor-owned electric utility companies with a nonprofit, consumer-owned one.
Lawmakers and advocates gathered at a press conference in Augusta to urge the creation of a new utility, dubbed Pine Tree Power Co., which they said would improve service, pricing and sustainability.
State Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, who chairs the House Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, said in a news release, “Today, the people of Maine rise to assert our power, and our independence. Our new bill, ‘An Act to Create the Pine Tree Power Company,’ will allow us to control our own money and our own energy destiny — to advance fast and fairly toward our own clean energy and connectivity future.”
Specifics of the legislation weren’t available. However, it would likely call on the Maine Public Utilities Commission to revoke the monopoly granted to Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power, and require the sale of their assets to the new company.
Such proposals have previously been floated in Maine, but this one may gain support from recent dissatisfaction with the current utilities.
State Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, said in a news release Monday, “Right now, foreign governments and foreign corporations own Maine’s major utility monopolies. This ownership model has been a disaster, leaving Maine with the most outages, the longest outages, the worst customer service, and among the highest rates in the country. Working together, we can do better and establish Pine Tree Power.”
The proposal is backed by a group calling itself Our Power, a coalition of Maine ratepayers, business leaders, energy experts, conservationists and others, according to its website.
CMP issued a statement after the news conference, saying, “If this bill were to pass, and the state’s electric grid was seized, Mainers would be on the hook for billions of dollars — $13 billion for CMP alone, with no guarantee of improved reliability or service.
“Creating a government-controlled electric utility would represent the largest expansion of state government in Maine’s history, and adding politics to power delivery only adds problems for customers.”
Versant Power said, "Maine is working hard to make progress on renewable energy goals and mitigation of climate change, and Versant Power strives to be a trusted partner in those efforts. A government power takeover will threaten our state’s ability to do the work our citizens demand to keep pace with an evolving energy landscape."
Versant Power serves more than 159,000 customers in eastern and northern Maine, and is a subsidiary of Enmax Corp., owned by the city of Calgary, Canada. CMP serves more than 620,000 customers in central and southern parts of Maine, and is a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR).
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Imagine how other large Maine businesses might react to such a takeover. No business wants to live in fear of a government takeover. This is the kind of thing you see in dictatorships. How does that work out? I can guarantee there would be a huge rise in rates every year for years to come.
This makes so much sense: take a utility that for the most part is working fine, reasonable pricing, reasonably good effort when bad weather causes blackouts and shoot both feet off by [of all things] setting up a quasi-government agency to take it over; BRILLIANT.
Now show me any governmental agency that has the capability to run anything better than the private sector anywhere on this planet.
Having worked for a utility in a previous position and understanding what it actually takes to supply electric is a far cry from standing on the outside saying that ANY governmental agency could do a better job. You have no depth of understanding and yet are so quick to throw stones.
Rather than complain, why not step into the working shoes of CMP for a few days as an observer to get an education about how difficult it is to run a utility because of all the GOVERNMENT RED TAPE. Not to mention the price of attempting to replace CMP as their bill to leave will be in the billions.
Stop whining, grow a set and deal with it. It could be a whole lot worse.
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