When we talk about the prospect of a government takeover of my employer Central Maine Power, voters should know that its replacement, Pine Tree Power, will be required to outsource most of its work to a private, for-profit company. It’s ironic that the very campaign railing against utility companies earning profits will put Maine’s power grid directly into the hands of a profit-making business.
I don’t know how much a private contractor would charge, but I do know it won’t be cheap. There’s a very good chance it’ll be an out-of-state company. Likely it’ll operate remotely from its corporate headquarters or pay its executives to be in Maine on a temporary basis. We should brace for a revolving door of executives leaving for better offers or to be closer to their homes. Its employees definitely won’t have the same dedication to our state as the people I work with now.
Nor will this yet-to-be-named contractor have the same skin in the game as CMP because the politicians who make up the “elected board” overseeing them could fire them at any time. They won’t worry about wasting time and money recreating the wheel at ratepayers’ expense. In fact, they’re incentivized to do it because it will increase their profits. And when things go wrong, say after a big storm? Just wait for the finger-pointing between the politicians and the contractor they’ve hired to begin.
From my perspective, this is what the future will look like if Question 3 passes in November.
Jayme Holland
Hallowell
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