We learn a lot as kids. What I learned was that my future was not secure. I watched my brother bag groceries during the Great Recession. And just when things started to get better, landslides came down our mountains in freak storms. Before I even had the words, I knew that facing the interlocking climate and economic crises would be my life’s purpose.
That is why I worked day and night for the “Yes on 3” campaign for Pine Tree Power. Public utilities are providing a public good and they should be publicly-owned. That is the only way that my future, your future — our future — will be prioritized over shareholder profits.
Since the election, I’ve seen utility CEOs and political commentators insinuating that the results somehow invalidate that fundamental truth. But election results can’t change the reality. The fact remains that the investor-owned utility system, with corporate shareholders and captured regulators, was designed to enrich the few. By definition, it cannot prioritize people or our planet. Full stop.
Nevertheless, the facts are also that our movement for public power has a lot of work to do. We lost. However, as someone who had more conversations with voters than most, I’m worried people have the wrong idea.
The real takeaway is that we were outspent by 37 to 1. To attempt to draw conclusions beyond that is simply negligent. Generally, campaigns are between two candidates, and being outspent means a 2:1, maybe a 3:1, differential. In this case, it was between customers and their utilities, which are owned by billion-dollar corporations. The No on 3 campaign didn’t have to raise money; it had a utility expense account that enabled them to spend $140 per vote.
The other story that needs telling is that thousands of Mainers ran a bold campaign that would have transformed lives. We put forward a first-of-its-kind initiative, and it took $40 million to shut us down. I’m reminded of other groundbreaking campaigns — for example, gay marriage or raising the minimum wage — that seemed unattainable until national movements changed our sense of the possible. Our campaign is already inspiring others, because people know there is a problem when utilities spend tens of millions of dollars on politics instead of fixing worst-in-the-nation service.
While the “No on 3” campaign hired huge consulting firms and blanketed TV, radio, social media and even mailboxes with scary advertisements, Pine Tree Power was largely persuading voters one by one. Our campaign was educational house parties over homemade blueberry pie; lovingly crafted songs and signs; and thousands upon thousands of conversations. It was a beautiful thing and, ultimately, it was not enough.
Our loss hurts deeply, because the present terrifies me, let alone the future. But this campaign showed me that I’m not alone.
One of the biggest things we learned was that support for public power crosses the political spectrum. I’ve spoken with students confronting their climate future. Diabetics and their loved ones facing disconnections with life-and-death consequences. Rural Mainers dealing with so many outages that a generator is the only option. These are the 30% of people that voted for Pine Tree Power. And really, that’s quite something — more than 120,000 people, including majorities in several cities and towns, voted “yes” on Question 3, without there ever being an ad on television.
The people most affected by the horrors of corporate utilities may have lost, but it does not mean we were wrong to try to win. We educated thousands with our stories, and no corporation can take that away. Our movement will honor those stories — yours and mine — whether you voted with us or not. We’ll continue to listen, learn and show up … because that is how we win relief from the cruelty of the status quo and enact systemic changes that will bring true justice. Our future may not yet be secure, but one thing’s for certain: This isn’t over.
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