Since a vast majority of Mainers are voicing opposition to Central Maine Power Company’s controversial proposed 145-mile transmission line, why have the state’s Land Use Planning Commission and the Public Utilities Commission given a green light to the project? Both commissions, in theory, represent the public.

This disconnect feeds into the narrative that multinational corporations (CMP is owned by Iberdrola, a Spanish energy conglomerate), not the public, control government. To date, 25 Maine towns along the corridor have voted to oppose or rescind their project support. Thousands of Mainers, myself included, have signed a petition to add the controversial transmission project to the November ballot. Maine politicians decry referendums, but when Augusta ignores the will of the majority of citizens, the electorate has little recourse but to take matters into its own hands with referendums.

Frankly, I’m disappointed in Gov. Mills for prematurely voicing her support of the project in February 2019. In doing so, she undercut the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s April 2019 public hearings to gather information and issue a ruling.

The governor also signaled to the LUPC and PUC to follow her lead by approving the project. The fate of CMP’s project will likely be decided by referendum at the November ballot box. By voting, Maine citizens will send a loud message to Gov. Mills, the LUPC and the PUC: Our collective voice counts more than ones at corporate headquarters in foreign countries.

Ron Joseph

Sidney

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