The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
John Arimond of Bangor is Our Power’s board president. He was formerly the chief technology officer of a wind turbine manufacturer in New Zealand and now leads wind energy research and development projects at the University of Maine.
Median household income in Maine has doubled over the past 20 years, increasing by 104 percent. Over the same period, the prices of gasoline, heating oil, natural gas and propane have increased by 70 percent, 139 percent, 50 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, residential electric rates increased by 350 percent between 2004 and 2024. An additional 23 percent electric distribution rate hike was approved for Versant by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) earlier this month. Alongside our high electric bills, we suffer longer and more frequent outages than most Americans. In the 2023 J.D. Power survey of residential customer satisfaction between 121 electric utilities nationwide, Versant and CMP scored 120th and 121st.
Maine’s utilities have annual revenues of over $2 billion and enjoy annual profit of over $200 million. Most of these profits leave the country, flowing to the shareholders of Enmax (the Canadian owner of Versant) and Iberdrola (the Spanish owner of CMP). Thanks to Maine and federal regulations, these investor-owned utilities (IOUs) earn 9 to 11 percent returns on equity with virtually no risk and no free-market competition. Maine’s small businesses can only dream of being guaranteed such returns.
Most Mainers accept high electric rates and mediocre service as facts of life, but we can have more control than we often realize. To exercise this control, we need to study up, show up, and speak up.
Our Power is here to help. Our Power’s mission is to drive change toward energy democracy and a more just and rapid transition to our clean energy independence. We are working to see that electric utilities are held accountable to consumers. We envision a day when consumers can have trust, confidence and control in our energy future.
Our Power is best known as the organization behind the 2023 referendum to form Pine Tree Power, a nonprofit consumer-owned utility (COU). Nonprofit COUs already serve 28 percent of U.S. electricity customers, while for-profit IOUs like CMP and Versant serve 72 percent. The Pine Tree Power ballot question was a swing for the fences. While we fell short of a home run in 2023, Our Power has been scoring plenty of base hits at the Legislature and at the PUC, which issues the regulations utilities must follow.
Our Power members have successfully pushed the PUC to lift utility performance standards and to penalize failures to meet the higher standards. Our Power has helped pass bills in recent years to rein in utility power, for example by stopping utilities from spending ratepayer money on lobbying. As the IOUs hire lawyers and lobbyists to influence PUC proceedings, Our Power intervenes at the PUC to help level the playing field.
In 2025, Our Power will continue to engage directly with lawmakers and regulators to hold utilities accountable and to promote better outcomes for Maine people and businesses. We will help Maine people build awareness, energy literacy and direct activism to inspire change.
Our Power will also support efforts to form more nonprofit public and community-owned energy systems (COES) in Maine. Maine has had 10 consumer-owned electric cooperatives for some time. The Maine Community Power Cooperative and other recently-formed COES are developing distributed energy resources which aim to reduce members’ electricity costs and temper the growing burden on transmission and distribution systems. If you have a vision for more local control of your power, we’re here to help you.
Our Power has made a difference, but our work has just begun. To join us or to learn more about our work, visit ourpowermaine.org. Maine’s motto is “Dirigo,” or “I lead.” It’s now time that we stop trying to lead the nation in electric rate hikes and power outages and start taking the lead in defining our own energy future.
