Maine voters reject effort to create the first statewide public power company
Maine voters reject effort to create the first statewide public power company
A historic referendum asked voters in Maine if they wanted to replace their privately owned utilities with a publicly owned one.
The measure, called Question 3, prompted heated debate in the months leading up to the election. Central Maine Power and Versant Power, the state’s dominant utilities, poured more than $40 million into a campaign opposing the referendum, outspending Pine Tree Power advocates 34 to 1. Political groups funded by the utilities and their parent companies mailed flyers and aired ads on TV, radio, and social media, urging Mainers to reject the measure, which would have effectively put the two companies out of business.
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On one hand I have an impulse to call the voters morons but it can't be right, this level of propaganda is ungodly. What exactly does a power company's propaganda even look like?
One of their arguments I believe was that it would actually be more expensive under public, because the cost of the buyout would be passed on to customers' bills. That probably resonated even though the cost of the buyout was overinflated by them.
cost of the buyout
if that was such a concern they should've just allotted 1 dollar to the buyout
good argument for expropriating capitalists without compensation and blowing their brains out if they complain
voters morons but it can't be right
This is the imperial core, you don't have to make apologies for bourgeois proletariats.
They put a large man in a hard hat and a flannel on TV and in a heavy Central Maine accent he said "Government run power is too expensive for us taxpayers"
The voters also killed a constitutional amendment to remove a provision that was ruled illegal in federal court 20 years ago and hasn't been enforced since.
Edit: They actually voted against two constitutional amendments to bring our laws in line with federal law