Letter to The Editor: Have these questions been answered?

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In my previous letters to the editor, I made two assertions: the people of Maine will have to pay for a power line network they will receive no benefit from; and, having rejected this power line network, electric rates were almost doubled as a punitive action. The response to my letters has been fascinating and informative. But I don’t think my claims have been properly addressed.

Perhaps better to pose the issues as questions. 1). Will the people of Maine directly benefit from the addition of a power transmission line from Canada to the state of Massachusetts? 2). If not, will the people of Maine have to bear the added expense of building and maintaining such a power grid? 3). With the rejection of this power grid addition, is the massive increase in consumer electric rates punitive?

To my view the answers are no, yes, and yes. The first question has already been amply answered: the people of Maine will not directly benefit. Even the claims of indirect benefits have been refuted. The second and third questions flow from the first. These questions address the logistics of building a massive power grid through the state of Maine. They are not answered (nor refuted) by objections based on policies and procedures.

The sequence of events has been: NECEC project proposed by multinational corporations > Investigation showed the electric power is transmitted directly to another state with no benefit to the people of Maine > The people of Maine thus voted to reject the NECEC > CMP customers were hit with a rate increase by these multinational corporations to almost double their power bills.

From this point on, with this drastic increase in electric utility rates, building the NECEC will only make matters worse. If this rate increase was intended to punish the people of Maine for opposing the NECEC, the various companies owned by FPL Holdings, Avangrid, and Iberdrola have made a serious mistake.

Jennings, William D.
Farmington
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