I am writing to combat claims that Pine Tree Power has no plan following the vote this November. This is simply not true. The transition process would begin immediately.

First, board elections will be held: Mainers from each region of the state will declare their candidacy by February 2024 with the nonpartisan election to be held in November 2024. In January 2025, the board will meet for the first time to adopt bylaws and select experts to serve alongside them. Then, the board will hire staff to perform the administrative work of the transition and negotiate the financing. This phase will continue until early 2026, by which time the board will begin negotiating a price.

Assuming that neither side’s offer is accepted, an independent referee will be appointed in the summer of 2026 to determine the fair price and avoid stalling. In early 2027, the board will hire a private company to run the grid operations of Pine Tree Power, and in the fall of 2027, just four years after the vote this November, Mainers will own our own power grid. We’ll see savings almost immediately as we are no longer forced to pay profits to Central Maine Power, a delight that will only get sweeter as the bond is paid off.

As you can see, there is a clear plan to form the Pine Tree Power company. I would not have spent hundreds of hours collecting signatures in 2021 and 2022 if I were not sure of this.

Wil Thieme
Cumberland

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