MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023
They are so numerous that it would be easy, from now until Election Day, to write every week about the problems with the utility takeover scheme labeled Pine Tree Power. I’d run out of time and column inches long before I’d run out of problems to dissect. The foremost presumption made by proponents of Pine Tree Power is that changing the ownership and management structure of our utilities would be an improvement. There are no guarantees in life. It might be better, it might be worse. Moreover, elected members wouldn’t have to know anything about utility policy. The supporters of Pine Tree Power can’t guarantee they’d lower costs, respond to storms better or help the transition away from fossil fuels. What they can promise is a lengthy legal battle that could cost taxpayers millions. ~ Jim Fossel