I applaud Alice Stevens for her climate change concerns (letter, July 17). However, replacing CMP and Versant with a customer-owned utility will not grind Maine’s important work on climate to a halt. Stevens seems to think when we start the transition process, CMP and Versant will stop meeting their legal obligations. This is not true.
During the transition period to a consumer-owned utility, the Maine PUC will continue to have full jurisdiction over CMP and Versant and will be able to continue pressing them to meet Maine’s climate goals. It is also worth noting that our investor-owned utilities have been enemies to the climate movement for decades. These for-profit companies have consistently lobbied against clean energy legislation, particularly solar installations. After all, their goal is to make money for their investors, many of whom are foreign governments like Spain, Norway, and Qatar.
Buying out these foreign-owned utility companies will finally align our utilities with our climate goals. The newly formed consumer-owned utility would be mission bound to our state’s climate plan, which includes ambitious and specific emissions reduction goals for 2030, 2040, and 2050.
The threat of legal action cannot dissuade us from taking this important step to buy out CMP and Versant; in fact, it underscores just how important it is.
To learn more about Our Power, check ourpowermaine.org.
Linda Woods
Waterville
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