Nations, and states, need a certain amount of infrastructure to call their own. This is the only way to ensure the citizens who invest in those institutions can be sure government isn’t just a conduit that moves wealth from the citizenry to business interests with strong political connections. I don’t believe the state run electric company promoted now fits this bill.
Pine Tree Power Company would be structured in such a way that it cut costs for electric generators who’d like to tie into the grid at the expense of the taxpayer. We would then own the transmission lines, assume the responsibility of maintaining them, but own no power plants. And, since this is where electric cost is decided, we would have no means of reducing it.
That seems an awfully big oversight given the fact that this proposal is driven by the outrageous cost of electricity today, but it’s not. The political interests responsible know exactly what they’re doing. They’re trying to convert our dissatisfaction into opportunity for them and the business interests they hope will contribute to their campaigns from this point forward. It’s a favor.
Jamie Beaulieu
Farmington, Maine
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