Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Sparks

Maine’s Historic Public Power Push Goes Down in Flames

Early results suggest the campaign to take over the state’s utilities was defeated in a landslide.

Utility workers and power lines.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

An unprecedented “public power takeover” campaign in Maine failed on Tuesday, according to a projection by The New York Times.

The Maine ballot had asked voters if they wanted to create the Pine Tree Power Company, a nonprofit electric utility governed by a publicly-elected board, which would purchase and acquire all of the investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities in Maine. When the Times made its call, voters had rejected the initiative 71% to 29%, with over a third of precincts reporting.

The ballot question was the culmination of a multi-year campaign by a group called Our Power, which initially brought the idea to a vote in the Maine legislature in 2021. Though it passed, the bill was vetoed by Governor Janet Mills, and supporters did not have the votes to override the decision. Instead, they gathered the 63,000 signatures required to put the question to Mainers on this year’s ballot.

A growing contingent of the progressive climate movement is turning to the idea of public power as a way to solve many aspects of the energy transition at once. They argue that the system of providing electricity through state-sanctioned private monopolies is incompatible with an era of climate change, when utilities should be rapidly transitioning to clean energy, while also growing and hardening the grid, and easing the cost burden for the most vulnerable customers. The theory is that a public utility, unencumbered by the need to turn a profit, will be able to prioritize other public goals.

Public power advocates in Maine offered voters a laundry list of other reasons why they thought the state’s two investor-owned utilities, CMP and Versant, should be replaced. Though it’s rare that anyone likes their utilities, CMP and Versant are consistently rated the worst for customer satisfaction in the Northeast. CMP has faced multiple investigations and fines over its billing system, customer service, and delays connecting new solar projects to the grid. Advocates also appealed to nationalist views by highlighting the fact that both companies have “foreign owners.” (CMP is owned by Iberdrola, a Spanish company. Versant is owned by Enmax, a Canadian company owned by the city of Calgary.)

But in the run-up to the vote, the two utilities spent millions of dollars running targeted ads on social media and streaming services calling the idea “too costly and too risky.” This “disaster for Maine” would “hurt workers and small businesses,” they argued.

A few key aspects of the takeover were uncertain, including the ultimate cost of the acquisition, how long it would take to complete, and whether the transition would result in lower rates for customers. Campaigners essentially asked Mainers to take a leap of faith. They managed to convince the city of Portland, but few other parts of the state appeared to get on board.

This was perhaps the most ambitious attempt at a public power takeover the nation has seen since the early 20th century. But other, similar efforts are underway in cities and towns all over the country, like Ann Arbor, Michigan, and San Diego, California.

Yellow

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Sparks

The First Sign the U.S. Oil and Gas Sector Is Pulling Back

Three weeks after “Liberation Day,” Matador Resources says it’s adjusting its ambitions for the year.

Money and an oil rig.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

America’s oil and gas industry is beginning to pull back on investments in the face of tariffs and immense oil price instability — or at least one oil and gas company is.

While oil and gas executives have been grousing about low prices and inconsistent policy to any reporter (or Federal Reserve Bank) who will listen, there’s been little actual data about how the industry is thinking about what investments to make or not make. That changed on Wednesday when the shale driller Matador Resources reported its first quarter earnings. The company said that it would drop one rig from its fleet of nine, cutting $100 million of capital costs.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Sparks

Trump’s Lawyers Told a Judge They Think They’ll Lose Their Own Lawsuit

The Department of Justice included a memo in a court filing that tears down the administration’s own case against New York’s congestion pricing.

Sean Duffy.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images, Library of Congress

Secretary Duffy, you have no case.

That was the gist of a memo Department of Justice lawyers sent to the Department of Transportation regarding its attempt to shut down New York City’s congestion pricing program. The letter was uploaded mistakenly on Wednesday into the court record for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s lawsuit challenging Duffy’s actions. Oops.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Sparks

Gargantuan Solar Project in Nevada Appears to Be Moving Forward

The Esmeralda 7 project is another sign that Trump’s solar freeze is over.

Solar panels.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Esmeralda 7 solar project, a collection of proposed solar farms and batteries that would encompass tens of thousands of acres of federal public lands in western Nevada, appears to be moving towards the end of its federal permitting process.

The farms developed by NextEra, Invenergy, Arevia, ConnectGen, and others together would add up to 6,200 megawatts of solar generation capacity, making it the largest solar project in already solar-rich Nevada.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue