Dear Friends,
We have a lot of things we’re proud of and grateful for these days – and a big one of those is you.
True, we didn’t prevail with the Pine Tree Power vote last November, but we exceeded expectations. Thanks to you we taught CMP and Versant a lesson, forcing them to cough up over $36 million.
If it hadn’t been for YOUR support, we could never have turned from being outspent 54-to-1 to being outvoted only 2-to-1.
Without you, we could never have achieved an historic win in the Maine Legislature, winning bipartisan majorities of both the Maine House and Senate to put CMP and Versant’s monopoly privilege on the chopping block.
Your pressure helped make the Governor do something, passing a bill for marginally greater “utility accountability” and a more open, public process for future grid planning.
You helped us pass laws to hold CMP and Versant more responsible. These laws keep them from disconnecting public safety facilities like fire stations. They dramatically increase the maximum penalties the PUC can levy. They protect utility workers from injury. And speaking of penalties, you also helped us pressure the PUC to fine CMP for poor performance – first for $10.5 million, and then for another half a million!
You also helped us to help the workers. When CMP workers initially supported our proposal to get rid of CMP, it gave them major leverage. To bring them back onside, CMP had to make major concessions, including new staff, new equipment, and a better contract.
But your most important success is this: you changed the game. Maine people expect more of their utilities now. They expect more from our PUC. Even our detractors have said the outcome of last November’s vote means we need more accountability for CMP, not less.
Across the nation, communities are now rising up to assert their power. And here in Maine, we are determined to keep working to assert ours. Our Power is organizing now to continue our work on energy democracy.
Our Power is gathering ideas on how we can make an impact going forward and we want to hear from you. We will be reaching out to loyal supporters like you soon with a survey, and we hope you’ll take a moment to share your thoughts with us.
In the meantime, thanks again — and please keep in touch.
Yours,
The Our Power Steering Committee
