The question should be raised every time supporters of the CMP Corridor or any future for-profit energy delivery scheme echo the phrase “we need the electricity”: Who are the “we” and what is the “need”?
Americans households consume almost three times the electricity of the average German household, which is close to the global average. In the 1990s, Germany initiated its ‘Energiewende’, translated as ‘energy transformation’, which emphasized efficiency and low-C power generation and incentivized residential-scale energy generation though feed-in tariffs, somewhat similar to Maine’s own net-metering.
Key to this or any green energy transformation is the leveling off and reduction of demand. CMP and HydroQuebec profit from higher demand, and so have a built-in incentive to increase that demand. This set up a vicious cycle of consumption that will outstrip any efforts to achieve sustainably.
Make no mistake, the CMP Corridor is not getting us any closer to sustainability as long as the “we” includes profligate consumers of electricity and the “need” includes the likes of lighted 60-foot Citgo signs.
Truly green development of our electricity infrastructure empowers household-scale generation and storage and democratizes our grid rather than submits to corporate monopolies motivated to increase energy consumption.
Eben Rose
South Portland
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.