BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 16, 2021
Proponents of a consumer-owned utility began a long-promised effort on Monday to bring a question directly to Maine voters after Gov. Janet Mills vetoed their landmark bill earlier this summer. The bill would have asked Maine residents if they would like to create the Pine Tree Power Co., which would borrow against future revenue to buy out the infrastructure of the state’s two dominant utilities. It was one of the most high-profile bills in 2021, passing both chambers of the Legislature, but failing to win the two-thirds support needed to override the governor’s veto. The group Our Power needs just over 63,000 signatures to make the November 2022 ballot.