Maine is 89% forested. The power companies obviously can't keep up with preventative maintenance.

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Versant had crews working Christmas Day around here. Don’t think that is “business hours”.

None of that is true at all. They have had crews out rolling since the storm kicked off, just like they do for every storm. They have on call crews at all times, storm or not.

So get a generator. I mean, we live in a heavily forested and rural state, this is bound to happen.

It amazes me the people who don't have a generator. It's a necessity here. I'd sooner buy a generator if I bought a new home than many common household appliances.

For the last three years JD Powers and associates annual survey has ranked both CMP and Versant Power at the very bottom.

Both of these privately owned for-profit utility companies have increased rates faster over the last several years than in any other time in Maines history, increasing their profits 4x, while the quality of their service is literally the worst in the nation.

These are corrupt and incompetent corporations that only care about extracting as much wealth from Maine as possible and care nothing for their customers.

There are many articles detailing their long history of corruption. Here is just one:

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2020-01-31/regulators-impose-10m-penalty-new-standards-on-cmp-for-poor-customer-service

Vote for the Pine tree State power initiative ballit measure in 2023 and vote these criminals out of our power grid!

In case you need a short lesson on how the corruption within for profit utility companies typically works here’s a good segment from last week tonight on the issue:

https://youtu.be/C-YRSqaPtMg

Of course there are other even more blatant types of corruption, like political bribery, and I’m sure CMP engages in that as well.

They can. They won't.

Same, it seems people want the ‘Maine experience’ without the self-reliance it often requires.

They stopped doing maintenance about the time they were bought out by foreign interests.

I’m tired of paying for Spanish billionaires every time I turn a light on.

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I hate CMP as much as the next guy, but you may want to look up the Public Utilities Commission, my dude. These recent hikes? Not CMP's doing.

Stop thinking your feelings are facts.

Have fun blasting all that ledge.

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> Have fun with no power.

Easily done.

The cost of installation alone doesn't begin to get in to how expensive this would be. Future maintenance, obtaining easements, etc.

What ever happened to good, old fashioned self-reliance?

This is not the golden idea people think. Ledge. Rural communities. Funding. How high do you want those monthly bills? You thought people had issues paying now. Oh. And maintenance expenses. Cost of adding something new.

There's a LOT of reasons this is a bad idea.

How far back from the roads should people clear? Should we be clear cutting our yards? 🙄

I witnessed Versant crews working round the clock. My own power was back at 9 at night - well outside business hours. Should they have been out before the storm was done, further risking their lives and having their work undone?

ETA: A friend works for Versant. Crews can be on the road until 10pm performing repairs. As an FYI.

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Last time I got involved in a conversation here about running power underground everyone seemed to think I was a nutcase for saying this, like we can just directionally drill all willy nilly and pull cable like they do further west

Setting a pole up here can be enough of a pain in the dick let alone thousands of miles of power line in the ground

Well, this is a sub where the majority of posters think their individual convenience outweighs any other factor so that's not surprising.

Every circuit gets cut every 5 years. This isn’t true

True story. Talk to Janet Mills about this. Especially make noise about the recent extended outages because, make no mistake, we're paying for that in a the form of a rate hike. Make the state pay for it. Yeah yeah, our taxes but at least it won't make our power bills go up.

That is not enough. Obviously.

Do you realize what that will do to the already obscene power bills? Holy shit. Everyone might as well disconnect from the grid and run off generators full time if that's the plan. It would be cheaper financially.

edit "do to the"

I'd rather have a solar powered system anyways, great idea!

Unless you clear cut 50ft from the conductor you’re going to have vegetation related outages. CMP has one of the more intensive specs in the industry.

Go for it. Nobody's stopping you.

All rate hikes must be first requested by CMP and/or Versant

They then use their vast wealth and political capital to pressure the PUC into passing them

Hopefully someday energy storage technology will be cheap enough that everyone would do this!

With the new energy breakthrough, I'm really excited for what our children and grandchildren will see someday when it comes to energy resources and development.

It's not about clear cutting. It's about the 5 year plan which is bullshit in a state with so many trees, and a variable amount in each area. We're all being managed under the same restrictive tenet. It needs to not only be more frequent in the troublesome areas but it can't be as rigid as it is. I've sent pictures of huge trees teetering over lines, basically my next power outage when the wind blows over 5mph, and they won't come out and manage it. They're like "5 year plan. we don't do maintenance outside of that." Then the wind blows, the tree takes out the lines and 1000 people are out of power for hours.

My point is there are better ways to do this other than what they're doing.

And as posted below me, take that up with the state government. The governor hand picks the commissioners.

CMP handles delivery. They do not benefit from your supply rate going up.

With a little bit of artful financial accounting it’s very easy for them to benefit from the supply rate going up and they also benefit from the delivery rates going up which have also risen dramatically over the past several years.

Both CMP and Versant Power in fact currently have proposed hikes in their delivery rates before the PUC.

These two corporations are incredibly corrupt and they actively corrupt our government in their own interests.

Vote for the pine tree State powers initiative in 2023!

FYI the delivery rates went down in 2022, from $14.20 for the first 50kWh to $13.73, and $0.94 to $0.88 for excess.

No one is arguing the companies aren't corrupt but you're muddling the argument with your histrionics and misinformation. This is why we can't have nice things.

That's so optimistic of you. I hope you're right but cynical me is alternately cringing and laughing hysterically. It's not about "energy resources and development". It's about money, politics, and power.

I grew up in southern Maine all through the 90s and nobody had generators. I don't ever remember the power being out for more than one day.

So either the situation has deteriorated, or it's always been bad elsewhere but not in the particular area I grew up in.

I know. Preach it, for real haha! I get it. I just hope there would be a core group of people someday that would just have the best intentions and make good decisions so it helps everyone. If we actually as a people wanted something we could have it. We could have 1000 nuclear plants if we wanted it and have a super safe way to have so much energy. The infrastructure we could achieve is incredible when it comes to both solar and nuclear.

You sleep through '98 or something?

Perhaps they have reduced maintenance but I noticed a lot of old poles being replaced proactively the last couple of summers.
In my neighborhood they replaced guy wires and anchors this past summer. Many of the outages were caused by trees uprooted and toppled by high winds. Predicting which trees might be uprooted is not easy. Cutting everything within 50+ feet would not be welcome in most neighborhoods. I live in a city and lost power for only about 6 hours.

Oh shit this guy's referencing the worst weather event in modern Maine history like it's commonplace.

The dude literally mentioned the 90s and not remembering the power ever being out for an extended period of time.

Daddy chill.

>All rate hikes must be first requested by CMP and/or Versant

Not on the supply side, they don't request those hikes because they don't get the money

They're also literal children. Whenever someone posts a picture of themselves either on this sub or elsewhere, these guys are kids. 13-18 years old.

Makes me wonder how many times I was having a ridiculous discussion on a serious topic with a literal child.

There is a "core group of people" now. Actually, it's more than "core" and it's been around since at least the 70s. Now it's a majority. But that's not enough. Governments, big oil, the rich fuckers making money off both, everyone knew about climate change in the 60s and look where we are now.

We need to get rid of the money power politics faction but keep/expand freedom at the same time. This is the secret and nobody has found the key. Yet. I'm old enough to probably be dead by the time it happens. If it happens. But keep at it.

Did you build your own generator? Do you refine your own fuel? You aren’t self reliant get over your self.

9 times out of 10 I'll look at profiles and find them posting almost exclusively on weed subreddits complaining dispensaries aren't open on Christmas or that the skoonts don't have enough fleebz to activate their boba receptors.

I can say that for those waiting on their power restoration, there are now about 30 trucks at the Ocean State Job Lot in Sanford. One of the trucks is from as far away as Ohio. They’re coming up and lending a hand to restore power after this storm

May I introduce you to laser drilling. No it’s never been used for utilities before, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

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It amazes me that people think others can afford a Generator at this time.

> They wait until the storm is over

They didn't climb poles in the wind because their lives are valuable. So, that probably did delay restoration in many cases. A company that doesn't do that shouldn't be allowed to operate.

You might think this is an argument for underground services, and it sort of is. But when underground splices need to be made, it's important to control humidity and water so that the splice won't immediately explode again. Hard to do that work quickly in flood conditions.

Comparisons are good (particularly if they're backed up by data) but if it's just "I want my convenience faster, regardless of what the weather does" that's not how reality works.

To be fair not everyone’s experience during 98 was freezing and dark. I lived in Rockland at the time and we got very wet snow but no ice. Power stayed on. I can’t even recall it flickering.

edited for wording. I sounded drunk

I think that's a good question to put into the mix. I just got power back myself midnight. The power went out from a big old tree on someones property that they failed to maintain. I like trees and prefer a wooded property than bare but people should use common sence and maintain their property. Anything that looks like it could hit a line should be put into consideration. That one tree cost thousands and thousands of dollars to people on my road. Myself, I paid over 120 in generator fuel, plus missed work (over $400) and not to mention stress.😅😅 Is what it is I expect it especially by now where i live but if we all do our part collectively we can make a difference.

According to the article, new Hampshire and Vermont have less than half the outages that Maine does. They are also rural, highly forested states. What are they doing that Maine isn't?

I personally run solar, cmp can take a hike.

My house is off grid solar, with batteries and a generator. It's not for everyone, but I have been living this way since 2015. I don't pay a dime to CMP. I keep thinking about moving into town as I get older, but I don't like the idea of paying a utility bill.

If you can afford a home in this state you can afford a basic generator.

you may introduce us...

... I'll wait

You think people can afford homes? Barely anyone can even afford to fucking rent let alone buy a home.

Just got my power back. Was without Friday 8:30AM until Monday 3:30PM. I think it’s the longest outage I’ve had here, although I had a similar one 5-6 years ago.

Being smaller

It's incredible the cost. Watching the community pay more, and more, and more is sad. I wish everyone had the ability to have their own solar systems. At CMP's rates it's only a matter of time before a full solar system pays for itself.

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Why? Would you rather pay a billionaire from MA?

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Source?

CMP has 2300 miles of line. How far would you like them to cut back on each side, and how much are you willing to pay for it?

https://www.maine.gov/mpuc/regulated-utilities/electricity/map/index

True, but according to this map large sections of the state don't have any electric service(or people). So it's not fair to just compare the total size.

https://www.maine.gov/mpuc/regulated-utilities/electricity/map/index

Maine is bigger, but also a sizable portion of the state has no electric service, or people, so it's not fair to directly compare size.

The article op linked clearly shows that Maine has almost twice as many outages, so they clearly aren't doing as well these days.

Maine is the King of Snow. Or at least...it was the King of Snow. Checks out.

Same here!

No it’s not

imagine modern cmp trying to handle the 98 ice storm. they cant even defend against stiff breezes

That includes landlords. If they’re profiting off of a renter a second source of power should be guaranteed no question.

My son-in-law is a Versant lineman. Didn't see him at all this weekend. He was out getting people's power restored. Happy holidays to you all, especially those of you who could spend time with loved ones who didn't have to be out on Christmas and Christmas Eve. Trust me, crews WERE OUT!

Edit: it's CHRISTMAS EVE, not CHRIDMAS EVE. Sorry, fat fingers!

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FWIW you can get a 4,000 watt portable gas generator for like $300-400 brand new - even less if you go used. They work just fine in a pinch.

It's also very different restoring power in south Portland than it is in Dixville notch NH. It's not as if NH and Vermont are metropolises. They are also highly forested, rural States, facing nearly identical challenges to Maine. And yet they have significantly fewer outages. It's about as apples to apples as you can get.

Got a generator?

So much this!

Power went out on Friday and a ton of people took to Facebook community pages to bitch and moan about CMP. I asked one of them, “so what was your plan?” This literally happens every year. I topped off my gas cans, and when the power went out, I rolled my generator outside and started burning dinosaurs to keep the lights on.

Get a generator if you think you need power. Get a wood stove if you think you just need heat. Do something.

If your plan is to just bitch about CMP on Facebook, I really have no sympathy for you.

You can get a new 2-stroke one that runs a fridge for $150 on ebay. Used ones on FB marketplace start at $50. Cheaper than losing a freezer full of food.

I always wonder when I see a pole with a cairn of rocks around its base, if they put those rocks there to be able to claim they rammed it to the required depth.

Great, put Elian Musk in charge of our electricity.

The fact anytime they actual do tree trimming it’s reported in all the news outlets so we see them doing it despite the fact outages are worse than ever from tree damage

I don’t think people understand how much of NEPOOL is gas generation. Or in periods of high demand: more expensive oil.

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Here’s their tree trimming schedule

https://www.cmpco.com/wps/portal/cmp/outages/weareready/treecare/treetrimschedule/!ut/p/z0/fc7NCoJAFAXgZ2nhMu6YErUUKSM0bFGMs5FBbzqlMzqO_bx9hoS0aXcO3PNxgQEFJvldFNwIJXk19IQtU8eONjvXJ4dV5K7J0XXCUxCcyTa2YQ_s_8EgLHTkRwWwhptyLuRFAX0g16iR5y-gRiNmQx2T0aLushLzvsLPWFzblnnAMiUNPg3QrG54odPpTYuUA4TaIqo3vMDOIhNvkS8_ph--ubEkDr3ZG82EYEc!/

They must have been to Old Town or Orono.

We'll have a massive blizzard, 10 inches of snow, high winds. Just terrible weather. Lights won't even flicker. Week later, there's a light fog and the power goes out for 6-8 hours. Makes no sense.

Mainers voted down the influx of existing Canadian hydro when we killed the corridor. Was a huge amount of power available to the regional grid that all current producers would have to compete with.

Yup. And NH before them, driven primarily by people who don’t have to live with the consequences.

Sounds like CMP needs to up the tree trimming efforts to get ahead of these outages. It would be interesting to see what they are spending on trimming compared to VT and NH. This type of comparison would be helpful.

I further think people need to take responsibility and be self sufficient. You live in an area where power outages should be expected from time to time. They will likely occur in winter during storms and bitter cold. Generators are affordable and easy to use.

I understand what you're saying, but looking at pure population density isn't a good metric when a large percentage of Maine does not have electric service, or basically any people. I would be interested to see how the population density compares when you remove the areas of Maine that don't have service.

Of course Here’s the thing. The power companies will ask for money and rates will go up all in the name of “maintaining infrastructure” and calling in contractors and whatever else they can repeat much of the claims for the last 30 years.

#CMP

The person pushing the Pine Tree Power proposal is as corrupt as anyone. He is also ignorant about the costs and challenges involved with running a grid.

$13.5 billion, people. And that is just the cost of acquiring the infrastrcture. Does not even take into account the cost to hire a FOR PROFIT company to operate the grid since the politicians pushing this don't know how.

Not to mention the loss of millions in property tax revenues taking all that I frastructure off the tax rolls.

Loved there for 6 years and the longest I’ve ever had was three days. But you could drive to the next town and get groceries. Fire place for warmth and a stove. Ahh I miss Maine so much!

Many of the outages were from big trees falling on the lines. No tree trimming would help unless people were ok with clearing at least 70 ft within the line.

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Is that you, Seth? Or is it one of Seth's minions? Delivery rate actally has NOT gone up dramatically.

Sad that you feel the need to lie to further your personal agenda.

You crack me up with your distortions. Here is what is really happening.

1998 ice storm affected 360,000 customers and took more than 3 weeks to repair. 3 WEEKS.

2017 Halloween bomb cyclone affected more than 400,000 and was fixed in 9 days.

This recent storm was over 300,000 and is on track to be fixed in 5 or 6 days.

CMP is facing nastier weather and completing repairs far more quickly than the ice storm.

Try actually digging up facts instead of spreading false info.

VT and NH did not get the worst of this storm.

Vermont has no coastline. NH has maybe 10 miles of coastline. Maine had thousands of miles of coastline.

Guess where the winds were strongest for the longest period of time? THE COASTLINE

So it shows that CMP is better than emec/nhec/vec, but they don't include data for "major event days" (figure 4, page 6). Any links to data that includes major events?

Also this study is from an obviously biased source, it's an organization fighting against the idea of turning CMP into a public co-op. So it's not surprising that they're cherry picking data to make them look good compared other electric co-ops.

A line down on our road, in street with cones around it, sat there for 3+ days. Nothing. No info on website until yesterday & then kept changing time. Finally came @ 6 last night for less than 10 minutes & left. No power another night. Mom's oxygen ran out @ 3AM. (Had posted restoration for 10AM yesterday.) Came today & fixed in less than 1 hour, street gets power back within 1/2 hour. Why wasn't anyone updating info? Where were all these trucks? Certainly not "working around the clock" here!!! Our generator wouldn't start & neither would our neighbor's. So sick of blame for incompetence pushed onto customers. Never saw 4 days without power with obvious problem already flagged & apparently less than 1 hour to restore to almost 100 homes. Ridiculous. Should not be at mercy of private company.

Well I am not looking to argue the numbers with you. I am assuming all your numbers are accurate. But in 98 it was a struggle just to get across the yard let alone a mile or two down the road. This past storm there were plenty of big trees down and wire snarls to fix. But i was still able to drive around town and you could roll boom trucks to those trees and snarls. 98 was another animal and as a lifelong mainer there is nothing these days that has ever compared.

Yes

CMP is shit for how they treat customers on the corporate side, but their line workers are fantastic.

Exactly what have they done to customers? Exactly where is the corruption you all speak of?

I've been a customer of CMP f or about 40 years at four different locations. I use power, a meter measures what I use, the company sends me a bill, and I pay it. Rinse and repeat every month.

I might have been late on a couple payments so they'd send a reminder and I paid without getting shut off. I have lived through my share of outages. Most people I know have had no problem with them.

Yeah, they revamped their billing system a few years back and it had some bugs like any conplex billing system would. They fixed them, made customers whole, and provided additional bill credits to compensate for inconvenience.

The recent price increase was on the supply side, which they have no control over and get no revenue from.

So exactly what issue do you have with how they treat customers? They do the best they can. Delivering power costs money; do you think it should be free? If so, than the choosing beggars sub might be more to your liking.

Most outages are not from large trees. They are the average tree limbs, rotted trees, and your average trees along the road. Those are well supported facts. Do large apparently healthy trees cause outages. Sure but why not focus on what will solve the majority of problems.

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And everyone freaked out the last time they asked to do that sooo

It's just like the deal of living in Maine isn't it?

>98 was another animal and as a lifelong mainer there is nothing these days that has ever compared.

I agree there is no comparison. CMP recovers from storms far, far more efficiently today than they did 20 years ago. This is a fact that cannot be disputed It is truly unfortunate that people like you are so blinded by hate that you cannot see it.

Everyone wants to live in Maine until it's time to fucking live in maine

What are you talking about? Blinded by hate? I just mentioned that 98 was a crazy storm. Where is the hate in that?

They were very publicly caught overcharging customers a few years ago. This is not news. https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2020-01-31/regulators-impose-10m-penalty-new-standards-on-cmp-for-poor-customer-service?_amp=true

You claim they do poorly with storm recovery. I offer several examples documenting how they have actually improved and you refuse to acknowledge facts. You and many others here are indeed blinded by hate when you cannot acknowledge the good that they have done.

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Sounds very much like Seth. He's Obsethed with taking down CMP even if he has to spread misinformation to seize our utilities. He has consistently blocked and deleted commenters from his personal page and the Our Power page. What a loose cannon. Enough with the lies Seth.

So they sucked in 1998 and couldn't figure out how to get better? They went out of business and got replaced by a better company more equipped to deal with their home state weather and geography right? Oof!?? No?? They stayed??

Seth Berry is the one behind this seizure of our utilities. He continues to spew misinformation aimed at getting the general public in a tizzy over CMP/Versant. They did an absolutely stellar job during this past storm and Seth is feeling the pressure to take them down a few pegs when they couldn't have responded any better.

I received five emails from CMP over the weekend keeping me updated about the storm response. Somehow Seth believes his $13.5 billion dollar pet project for government-power will function better than this. He's sorely mistaken and Mainers see through this.

And they cleaned this up. Mainers will hold a grudge until the cows come home. They did a stellar job this weekend and I'm sure most Mainers are more than satisfied with their response.

Wrong.

Pine Tree Power would cost Mainers $13.5 billion dollars just for the pole and wires. Thanks but I'll stick with the experts who just restored power to nearly half a million customers in less than four days.

I just watched that. He had some odd mistakes in the segment. Like when he was talking about rate base, he was correct and that’s a huge driver of your distribution rate. But then, either out of ignorance or a desire to sensationalize, he said that no maintenance was being done because utilities weren’t incentivized to do it. That’s almost never true - utilities regularly put maintenance into rate base.

His solar commentary wouldn’t apply to any utility in a deregulated market read: Maine. CMP does not generate power and would have no reason to build a power plant.

He also discussed 3 examples of political corruption. None of the 3 were in Maine.

Tell that to my landlords.

If your utility has a proper tree trimming program you would likely have fewer outages. Sounds like CMP is failing in this area.

And yet their profits have quadrupled in the past 6 yrs alone...

False, Texas.

Our utilities aren't immune to rising costs due to things like inflation. Take your grudge somewhere else.

Yes. But I don’t claim “self reliance” because I know that’s bullshit.

Anyone can see the history of your account.

Every single comment made by your account has been made in support of these private utility companies.

You are a corporate shill.

I have no doubt that CMP and/or Versant are paying you to do this.

Your account is an example of the type of sleazy media efforts that these corrupt utility companies will pour their money into to oppose this peoples referendum

Anyone can see the history of your account.

Every single comment made by your account has been made in support of these private utility companies.

You are a corporate shill.

I have no doubt that CMP and/or Versant are paying you to do this.

Your account is an example of the type of sleazy media efforts that these corrupt utility companies will pour their money into to oppose this peoples referendum

None of the energy from the proposed power cord or will ever go to Maine

It’s all intended to be sold to Massachusetts

Your point is a false corporate talking point

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Maine utilities have some things to work on, and credit where credit is due they have fixed many issues in recent years. With that said your post is just not true or fair. Our utilities did not request or benefit from recent rate increases. Supply is gouging us and we need to regulate and hold them accountable. A consumer owned utility will face the exact same increases we are seeing now...spending $14B to purchase what's not for sale solves absolutely nothing.

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While you are busy promoting Pine Tree's initiative by pushing false information and emotion-fueled posts, others are sticking with the facts. CMP isn't perfect, but I'm certainly grateful for their consistent efforts during storms and the thought of a utility takeover is downright terrifying for a lot of reasons.

You call out everyone on here who is invested in our fight against climate change and accuse people of being a corporate "shrill," but you are by far the most vocal supporter of Our Power. So who is getting paid??

CMP/Versant is not responsible for the huge rate increases recently. That’s all on the supply side. For example, NextEra, Hugh natural gas company, fought against the corridor and then got a huge 120% increase on the supply side. It had nothing to do with CMP/Versant.

Also, that JD power study is super flawed. They are not “literally the last in the nation” because it doesn’t cover all utilities. Plus, the questions are flawed, it’s pretty misleading.

But, the most important thing is that PTP just complains about CMP/Versant but can’t claim It will lower rates as rates will likely rise.

Untrue.

No they don’t, not in the supply side. It’s the state run standard offer.

Oh look! Another paid for shill corporate account Created only to promote the interest of these corrupt for-profit utility companies.

Your account has only one karma and all of your comments are defending CMP and Versant.

You understand that we all can see your account history right?

How do you feel about yourself being paid to spread disinformation on behalf of sleazy companies that are gouging consumers?

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Your account has -4 karma and all of your comments are in support of CMP

My account is the genuine account of a tax paying and voting Maine Citizen

It’s a typical tactic of corporate crooks to accuse their opponents of spreading the type of disinformation that they themselves are spreading

And it’s laughable that you would suggest that CMP or versant have any interest at all in opposing climate change because they certainly do not. Their only interest is in their own profit.

Every time that you make a comment with one of the corporate sock puppet shill accounts that you have created you only encourage Maine citizens on Reddit to give even more support to the Pine tree State power initiative ballot measure.

Oh look another corporate shill account with zero karma and almost all the comments in their history are promoting the interest of CMP

You do understand that we can see the history of all the sock puppet accounts you are creating right?

Your transparently corrupt corporate shill efforts to sway Maine citizens opinions Will only result in even more Mainers opposing CMP and voting in support of the pines tree state power initiative ballot measure.

Presumably in the event of am outage you could say that you are not relying on the power company. You could perhaps say you are relying on yourself?

Oh look another corporate shill account with zero karma and almost all the comments in their history are promoting the interest of CMP

You do understand that we can see the history of all the sock puppet accounts you are creating right?

Your transparently corrupt corporate shill efforts to sway Maine citizens opinions Will only result in even more Mainers opposing CMP and voting in support of the pines tree state power initiative ballot measure.

[deleted]

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that! That has NEVER been my experience, so, of course, I have different assumptions than you.

Not sure why disagreeing with you make me a “corporate shrill.” And sorry Reddit isn’t my entire life and I don’t have such an awesome commenting history and wonderful (and made up) Karma score, as your account that is about 100 days older than mine.

But, go ahead resort to name calling when someone brings up facts you don’t like. I won’t apologize for speaking out on an issue that I am interested in.

I think PTP’s plan is not well thought out and I think it will cost Mainers and that rates will rise.

Not sure why that evokes such an emotional response for you. Others seem perfectly capable of talking about the facts without calling names.

Your account has -2 karma and zero posts and every single comment on it is defending CMP.

I encourage everyone reading this post to check your account history for themselves.

Disagreeing with me doesn’t make you a corporate shill, BEING a blatant and obvious corporate shill account is what makes you a corporate shill.

You’re doing such a horrible job on Reddit promoting the interests of CMP that if I was your paymaster at CMP I would fire you immediately

Well we are a large rural, heavily forested state with a lot of shoreline that takes a beating, compared to other states that aren't as heavily forested or as much shoreline that would make sense! Historically I have always been on the last of the restoration efforts, but I was only without power for 24 hours. I was really impressed and grateful to CMP's linesmen, especially over the Holidays.

Normal taxpaying Mainer here... not sure this is the right place to argue politics or try to change minds but I spend most of my time on Reddit on snark pages so who am I to talk. Just want to offer a different perspective, which is that I don't think CMP is perfect but I also don't think the Pine Tree Power plan is written in a way that's gonna deliver what they're promising. I also worry it's gonna just take too long (not to mention eventual litigation) and cost too damn much and by the time all is said an down we'll be mired in bills that are the same as today AND we'll still be wading in the mess of fossil fuels while the planet crumbles further. Not suggesting I have a better solution either, but wanted to offer my perspective.

You are gravely mistaken. I don't frequent reddit for much but I will continue to call out this proposed takeover of the grid as it is a horrible deal for Maine.

How much is Our Power paying you to spread this misinformation? This government-led takeover would cost us over $13 billion dollars. We are not a rich state.

Look folks, an Our Power bot. This person continues to copy and paste the same response up and down the thread. This is what Our Power has resorted to. They consistently block and delete comments from their social media and then call anyone opposed to this takeover a "corporate shill."

I didn’t assert any energy would be going to Maine.

The energy the hydro offsets on the grid becomes increased supply for the grid. This increased supply can offset along the grid and then bring along a lowering of cost as the remaining producers compete for share.

Primary funding against the corridor was the current energy providers, including NextEra. Corporation’s benefited with either decision for or against the corridor.