Stephen Singer writes about energy and utilities for the Press Herald. He began covering the arcane beat in 1999-2000 as a statehouse reporter for The Associated Press in Charleston, W.Va., as the Legislature -- with many others in the U.S. -- set about the task of deregulating energy. Singer picked up the beat for the AP in Hartford, Conn., expanding his reporting to cover the six New England states. A newcomer to Maine, he prefers blueberries to lobster.
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PublishedOctober 22, 2023
Public power question sharpens voters’ concerns about what’s at stake
A proposal to take over the state’s two investor-owned utilities raises worries about reliability, politics, workers’ rights, lawsuits and costs. Some are still in the dark.
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PublishedOctober 20, 2023
$30 million grant to bolster CMP grid a down payment on big projects
The money will be spent installing new devices that allow power to be restored more quickly and often remotely. The limited number of new devices already in service restored power to 74,000 customers in less than five minutes, said CMP.
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PublishedOctober 19, 2023
Feds identify Gulf of Maine area for offshore wind
The 3.5 million-acre area excludes lobster fishing grounds and all right whale restricted areas.
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PublishedOctober 18, 2023
CMP receives $30 million grant to improve grid reliability
The money is expected to be used to buy equipment mounted on the poles that will act like circuit breakers and allow the grid to rebalance more quickly following outages.
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PublishedOctober 18, 2023
Foreign ownership in CMP parent clouds 2 ballot measures
A foreign government’s ownership stake in a utility is complicated, and some experts say it doesn’t matter anyway because ownership of a regulated utility doesn’t translate into governance.
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PublishedOctober 17, 2023
Conservation Law Foundation opposes public power measure
The New England environmental group’s stance on the controversial Pine Tree Power ballot initiative differs from that of 2 other well-known conservation groups.
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PublishedOctober 11, 2023
Maine watchdog seeks to have Electricity Maine’s license revoked, says it overcharges
Some of the electricity supplier’s customers pay 40 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with the state’s standard offer of 17.6 cents, according to the state’s consumer advocate.
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PublishedOctober 10, 2023
Who could be a third-party operator? Here’s the test
As part of the legislation connected with Question 3, the Public Utilities Commission would determine that a transmission and distribution utility that serves more than 50,000 customers is considered “unfit” to operate if four or more of the conditions listed below are met. Using this criteria, neither Central Maine Power not Versant could be considered […]
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PublishedOctober 10, 2023
If there’s a new Maine utility, who will manage it?
Politics, qualifying credentials and managerial expertise collide in the debate over who would operate a publicly owned utility.
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PublishedOctober 4, 2023
Natural Resources Council of Maine backs public utility ballot measure
The state’s most well-known environmental advocacy group says that Pine Tree Power ‘offers our best chance to advance the clean energy transition with the accountability, creativity and collaboration necessary to keep costs as low as possible.’