KENNEBEC JOURNAL • January 2, 2023
It’s official: Mainers will be making momentous decisions in November 2023 about whether to buy out its two largest electric utilities, Central Maine Power and Versant, for somewhere between $9 billion and $13.5 billion in borrowing. It’s frustrating that all these questions, with the interminable ad campaigns accompanying them, will not resolve the much larger dilemma facing the state, and nation: How to rapidly transition from a fossil-fueled economy to one powered by wind, solar, and existing hydroelectricity. There an alternative. This may be the opportunity to finally get a public power authority up and running. It could start small and build upward. There’s no need for a multi-billion-dollar buyout. Otherwise, we will soon be fighting another referendum war, in which there may be plenty of casualties, and few winners. ~ Douglas Rooks