The winter storm of Dec. 23 left nearly 300,000 Mainers without power. The employees and management of Central Maine Power deserve a hardy round of applause for their response. They planned well and were prepared with sufficient resources to address the devastating damage the high winds left in their wake. Also, they worked tirelessly through one of the most important holiday weekends to make sure all their customers were back on the grid as soon as possible.

As we go into the next election cycle when a state takeover of CMP will be on the ballot, I ask all voters to remember this response. An investor-owned utility can provide good customer service and a decent rate of return to shareholders. Many of those shareholders are regular folks whose pension funds and 401(k)s are invested in blue chip stocks like CMP’s owner Avangrid. On the other hand, consider that the proposed alternative will be a quasi-governmental bureaucracy answerable to the powers that be in Augusta. Are you ready to turn over such an essential service that touches everyone’s life every day to unqualified political appointees? You can count me as a definite no on that initiative.

Joe Martin
Freeport