Mainers vote down ballot measure to create consumer-owned utility

Maine voters rejected a ballot initiative Tuesday that would have replaced the state’s electric utilities with the first state consumer-owned utility.

The initiative, Question 3, would have created the Pine Tree Power company through a takeover of Maine’s two investor-owned utilities, Versant and CMP. The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night with about 68 percent of the vote counted, indicating only about 30 percent of voters supported the proposition. 

Proponents of the ballot measure pointed to Maine’s high utility costs and outage rates, while its opponents said it would be overly costly to compensate the private utilities and that its use of an elected board would place operations in the hands of people with no background in running a grid.

The state’s senators, Sens. Susan Collins (R) and Angus King (I), stayed out of the fight, but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) endorsed the measure while Gov. Janet Mills (D) vocally campaigned against it. Mills previously vetoed a bill creating Pine Tree Power passed by the state Legislature in 2021.

Campaigners for Pine Tree Power told The Hill last week they were prepared for the possibility of a loss, citing being outspent by opponents. The campaign echoed that message in a statement Wednesday morning, saying they “started a critically important conversation that does not end today.”

“Our grassroots campaign has talked with thousands of Mainers — it is clear that CMP and Versant are hurting people,” campaign manager Al Cleveland said in a statement. “With worst in the nation customer service, astronomical rates, and the most frequent outages in the country, Maine voters made clear that we deserve better.”

On the opposing side, Willy Ritch, executive director of Maine Affordable Energy, praised “voters [who] did their homework.”

“They rejected billions of dollars in debt and they rejected the risk and uncertainty that came with it,” Ritch said in a statement to The Hill. “It was a hard-fought campaign but now it’s over and it’s time for all of us to come together as Mainers to take on the challenges our state faces.” The organization was formed in 2021 to oppose the Pine Tree Power initiative.

The initiative was a disappointment on an off-year election night that brought largely good news for progressives, including Democrats regaining full control of the Virginia General Assembly and a resounding victory for an Ohio ballot measure to add abortion rights to the state constitution.