BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 9, 2023
Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill in 2021 to let voters decide whether to replace Maine’s two major electric utilities with one overseen by an elected board. Central Maine Power Co. and Versant have injected $35 million into their campaign versus roughly $1 million by Our Power to oppose Question 3 on Maine’s ballot, a referendum launched in response to the veto. An array of political veterans from both major parties have stepped in to oppose the initiative on behalf of the utilities. Former Rep. Charlotte Warren (D) has been a public face of CMP’s campaign. Versant’s political group hired former state Sen. Tom Saviello (R). One of the highest-powered partisans on CMP’s team is Jim Mitchell, a former Maine Democratic Party chair. Former Sen. Andre Cushing (R) has worked for Maine Affordable Energy opposing the referendum. David Pomerantz, executive director of a group critical of utilities, said, “The use of intermediaries to pay former legislators indicates that utilities may suspect that voters would be angry if they learned about the utilities’ involvement.”