I realize that writing a weekly column such as Jim Fossel’s can be a daunting task, but it is obvious that his Oct. 1 column does not reflect any serious effort on his part to back up his assertions with facts.

Instead, he makes assertions that parallel what is claimed, without factual basis, in the flood of “Vote No on Question 3” flyers that have been appearing multiple times weekly in my mailbox from an organization funded by Central Maine Power’s parent company. Evidently, the profits enjoyed by Avangrid, the company that owns CMP, are well worth devoting $18 million and counting to a disinformation campaign designed to frighten Maine consumers into voting against Question 3.

There exist, for example, two detailed analyses of potential costs and benefits – one commissioned by CMP, from which comes the $13.5 billion figure, and one developed for the Public Utilities Commission in 2020 – but Mr. Fossel appears ignorant of both and chooses the Chicken Little approach (“The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”) to make his case, rather than presenting an argument based on what he might have learned from the two available studies of the issue.

Jonathan Mitschele
New Gloucester

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