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I think the defeat of Question 3 — which would have replaced investor-owned Central Maine Power and Versant Power with Pine Tree Power, owned by the people it would serve — proves that, if you spend enough money and shout loud enough and often enough, you can fool enough of the people enough of the time. Maine voters, who presently enjoy among the highest electric rates in the country, were persuaded that the investor-owned companies that provide our power today are a better deal for us than a company owned by us.
Here’s the rub: Who owns CMP? CMP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avangrid, which is a subsidiary of Iberdrola. Iberdrola is a consortium based in Spain, owned in part by the governments of Qatar and Norway, along with Blackrock, which represents the wealthiest of the international megarich.
Who owns Versant Power? Versant is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enmax. Enmax is — wait for it! — a power company wholly owned by the City of Calgary In other words, the people of eastern Maine are struggling to pay the electric bill for the people of Alberta, in Canada, who are being represented in this by an entity, seemingly pretty much identical to Pine Tree Power.
Can you see the hypocrisy of the power companies in all this? Can you see our foolishness in allowing it to continue?
Mark L. Humphrey
Milbridge
