I have recently received three glossy mailers from Maine Affordable Energy urging me to “Vote NO on Pine Tree Power on Nov. 7.”

An easy search reveals what should be obvious: Maine Affordable Energy is financed by Avangrid, the for-profit parent company of Central Maine Power. Of course CMP wants to defeat the ballot initiative which would create a nonprofit, consumer-owned electricity transmission and distribution company. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the Maine Affordable Energy Committee had reportedly spent $10.5 million on campaigning to defeat the Pine Tree Power citizen initiative. And we have seven months to go.

Will the people of Maine be fooled by CMP? I certainly hope not. We need a citizen-controlled entity to fairly, reliably and cost-effectively transmit and distribute electric power in Maine. Please vote “Yes” for the creation of Pine Tree Power on Nov. 7.

William Fritzmeier
Bath