MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 19, 2021
The summer of 2021 demonstrated that climate change is real. Gov. Mills has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent in the next 30 years. The major strategy for doing this is to move cars, trucks, industrial processes away from fossil fuels and toward electricity powered by carbon-free energy sources. This works only if Maine can generate more electricity from sustainable sources. There needs to be a balance of carbon-free energy sources. On a dark and snowy winter’s day, when demand for heat hits a peak, solar energy does not contribute. Nor, on a hot and still summer day, when air conditioning demand rises, does wind power help. That is why hydropower is an important part of the mix. Let’s skip spending the next 10 years fighting about how to organize a new utility organization, and instead let’s spend the time focusing on making the investments needed for Maine’s clean energy future. ~ David Flanagan, former executive chairman of Central Maine Power