Returning Local Control
Whether we’re new or lifelong Mainers, we know that our state is defined by folks who work hard for one another. Medical workers and mill workers, farmers and firefighters, loggers and lobstermen, we all work together to power Maine. That’s why we deserve a power company that works just as hard for us. But ever since our utilities were sold to the highest bidder, our communities have been falling victim to the tyranny of faraway corporations. CMP and Versant spend more time working for their owners — the governments of Calgary, Qatar, and Norway — than the people of Maine. They’ve been raising rates, threatening our energy security, allowing countless outages, and trying to divide us with expensive ad campaigns… all so that they can take hundreds of millions in profit each year from our communities. Thankfully, we can choose local control instead. This November, vote “yes” for Pine Tree Power, a nonprofit utility owned and run by Mainers, for Mainers.
Did you know?
CMP is owned by Avangrid, which is owned by Iberdrola… a Spanish multinational corporation whose main shareholders are the governments of Qatar and Norway, and Blackrock, one of the world’s largest investment corporations.
Versant is owned by Enmax, which is wholly owned by the city of Calgary, Canada.
CMP and Versant are not working for our communities.
But you don't have to take our word for it!
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) said, “‘Iberdrola’s physical and language separation from Maine creates the potential that decisions affecting CMP may be removed from the local concerns of Maine’s citizenry and government’”
The PUC also said, “‘The degradation in the quality of service seems to be coincident with the change in Avangrid’s management structure and the removal of operational decisions from the local company.’”
The Maine Public Advocate has said, “‘Avangrid is responsible for looking out for its investors, not Maine ratepayers.'”