PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July x13 2021
When did we get lucky enough to have a power grid that rivals Puerto Rico’s? Small wonder there is a proposition to take over the company. Central Maine Power has the worst customer rating and billing system in the country. Its infrastructure is old. It is mismanaged and probably has high debts. Worse, it has financial obligations to foreign owners. Because it’s a monopoly, it has grown fat, without competition at its heels to keep it fit. If the taxpayers of Maine take it over, we own the mess and have to assume the debts and obligations. A bankrupt company can be freed from its debts and obligations. That would be the time to turn it into a utility owned by its ratepayers, not before. Then it could be properly restructured. ~ Louise Rocha-McCarthy, South Portland