In order to create a world that is grounded in climate justice, we must have energy democracy. In Maine, where big energy monopolies CMP and Versant continue to centralize their business model on profits and fossil fuels at the expense of citizens, energy democratization will shift the power to the people. It is for these reasons that Sierra Club Maine has endorsed Question 3 to create the consumer-owned Pine Tree Power.
Interested in helping out? We’re looking for volunteers! Contact ania.wright@sierraclub.org to get connected, or go directly to the Pine Tree Power Campaign website’s take action page.
Question 3 isn’t just vital to lower Mainer’s utility bills, it’s also critical to meeting our climate and clean energy goals. The current Maine investor-owned utilities, CMP and Versant, have failed to respond to the climate crisis, fighting clean power at every turn and leaving Maine with the least reliable grid in the nation and some of the highest rates in the nation. They have shown that they will fight the growth of locally-owned clean energy in order to preserve profits and centralized control of fossil fuels.
In contrast, Pine Tree Power will be mandated to create a new paradigm for our grid. With labor, climate, and equity mandates written into the law, we can trust that we will be voting for system change and energy democratization.
“Energy democracy” is the restructuring of power to put working people, low-income communities, communities of color, and their allies in the driver's seat when it comes to our energy resources. It means decentralization of our energy system and encouraging community-based control and ownership of energy resources in order to protect ratepayers and ensure our communities are cared for.
A win for Pine Tree Power would be the single largest transition to consumer-owned or public power that the nation has ever seen. Maine can transform the indifference and climate denialism of our investor-owned utilities into a model of energy democracy and climate action to inspire other states and municipalities. As it’s been said: as Maine goes, so goes the nation.
This November, join Sierra Club Maine in voting YES on Question 3.