MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • March 7, 2021
New renewables and end uses will require massive investment in our distribution system. We are talking billions of dollars. Ratepayers will bear the brunt. Our current setup allows two monopolies, Central Maine Power and Versant, to charge rates based on what they spend on the network, plus a built-in profit. There is a much cheaper alternative: the Pine Tree Power Co. now being proposed by Our Power Maine. As a consumer-owned utility, Pine Tree Power will not use equity, so will not require a built-in profit. That is a savings of enormous magnitude. A consumer-owned utility meets all its financing obligations by tapping a vast, established market for bonds not issued by the state that are tied to services provided. These bonds are exempt from federal taxes. There are no shareholders to pay dividends to. More than one-fourth of America gets its power this way already. ~ Sam May, Portland