Three proposals to replace Central Maine Power and Versant exist. Two are the work of Democrats, one is the work of Republicans. None will solve the biggest cause of electrical woes in Maine.

The problem begins with the billing process. Though the state divided that utility into two distinct parts in 1998 (distribution and generation), it did not separate the bill so consumers too busy to read it carefully would know who was responsible for the increases they were seeing.

Most consumers wrongly blamed CMP and Versant because they produced the bill. Most are not aware that Constellation Energy, New Brunswick Energy, NextEra Energy and other generators set the price for electricity through bidding before the Maine Public Utilities Commission. And fewer are aware that NextEra, which relies almost entirely on fossil fuels to generate electricity in Maine, spent $20 million on messaging that was designed to exploit this misunderstanding.

That misunderstanding created the call to replace CMP and Versant that legislators are responding to. This and other misunderstandings have derailed the cooperative efforts of New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers committed to climate response. Key among these is the notion that No CMP Corridor, Mainers for Local Power and the Natural Resources Council of Maine worked for you, not the fossil fuel interests that provided funding they used to attack a plan that would have significantly reduced emissions and electric costs throughout the region by simply constructing another transmission line.

Jamie Beaulieu
Farmington