Because I care about the future of the global and local climate, as well as strong Maine communities, I support the Pine Tree Power Company.
As a young person, I am deeply concerned about the current and future impacts of climate change. I have observed while growing up in New England how winters have become warmer and less snowy, extreme weather events like heat waves and floods have become more common, and local ecosystems are destabilizing and shifting.
An often cited but clearly significant example: sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than 97% of the world’s oceans, and this rapid change is hurting lobster and cod populations that Maine fishers and the state’s economy depend on. Sea levels have already risen eight inches, and future rise will continue to threaten communities along Maine’s iconic coastlines and tidal rivers.
Pine Tree Power would be a nonprofit consumer-owned utility (COU) governed by a board of elected and appointed directors to distribute energy throughout Maine. It would replace Central Maine Power (CMP) and Versant, the current energy providers for most of the state. These companies operate in order to make profits to send to investors in Spain, Qatar, Norway and Canada who have no personal stake in the quality of Maine’s energy grid. CMP and Versant have consistently been rated among the least reliable energy utilities in the country––they are not worth their high prices, including their current proposed rate increases.
One of Pine Tree Power’s central purposes would be providing reliable electricity for Maine, and energy rates would only reflect operating costs. (The other seven purposes would also provide distinct benefits over CMP and Versant’s current operations.) There are already 10 COUs successfully delivering less expensive energy to 98 towns across the state. Like these existing COUs, Pine Tree Power would be solely accountable to the Mainers it would serve and thereby increase autonomy and independence related to energy needs.
I support Pine Tree Power because it would facilitate the necessary transition to renewable energy in Maine in order to mitigate climate change. Maine relies on fuel oil as a heating source more than any other state in the US, and the majority of Maine’s transportation still uses gas. Increasing the production and use of renewable energy instead of fossil fuels necessitates the expansion of the electric grid. CMP and Versant have delayed solar projects and are motivated by profits, not by affordable renewable energy.
In contrast, nonprofit COUs can more easily access the significant financial investments needed for modernizing and improving Maine’s energy grid. As a non-profit, any excess revenue made through Pine Tree Power would be reinvested into maintaining and expanding the grid. The first six communities in the US fully powered by renewable energy are all COUs. A COU governed by Maine citizens would be held accountable to following through on Maine’s climate goals for increasing renewable energy innovation and economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A renewable energy transition and expansion of the grid needs to be reliable and affordable to work, and Pine Tree Power would provide those necessary steps. Pine Tree Power would bolster Maine’s reputation as an independent-minded state as well as a national leader in climate action.
I envision a future where Mainers enjoy sustainable forms of community governance alongside a healthier environment. I see a world where we can access reliable and accurately priced renewable energy and can exercise power and autonomy over the grid. Pine Tree Power would enable the achievement of these goals.
When we reach the Nov. 7 referendum on this initiative, I urge you to support it for the sake of Maine’s environment and people. A vote for Pine Tree Power is a vote for climate, economic, and community justice.
Talia Mirel is a Bowdoin College student living in Brunswick.
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