“PINE TREE POWER: A RISK MAINERS CAN'T AFFORD, EVAH"

New TV ad highlights risk of government takeover of electric grid

March 1, 2023
For immediate release
Contact: Willy Ritch 207-841-8400 | [email protected]

Watch the new ad here.

A new TV ad that highlights the risks of a government takeover of the electric grid hit the airwaves in Maine this morning. The ad from the Maine Affordable Energy Coalition, features Jim Wright—a utility worker who became famous in Maine for warning us all that “no line is safe to touch, ever.”

This November, Maine voters will be asked whether they want to create a Pine Tree Power authority to seize CMP and Versant Power. The question voters will see on their ballots reads:

Do you want to create a new quasi-governmental power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?

In the new ad, Jim Wright talks about the risks of the Pine Tree Power proposal, including the estimated $13.5 billion price tag and the potential cuts in services or higher taxes that could result. As Wright said “Pine Tree Power is a risk Mainers can’t afford. Ever.”

When the Legislature was considering the Pine Tree Power proposal in the last session, the mayors of seven Maine communities wrote to Gov. Mills, saying “we are very worried about the very real possibility that critical property taxes paid by CMP and Versant to support essential municipal services will be diminished, or eliminated.”

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