According to information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, at 13.02 cents per kilowatt hour, Maine pays the 11th highest rates in the country.  While in Washington State, home  of the Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Project, electrical rates are some of the lowest at 7.9 cents per kilowatt hour.

Like Washington State, Maine has a robust hydroelectric generating capability, with one third of the net generation of electricity coming from hydroelectric dams.

Unlike Washington, Mainers have not seen the net benefits in their rates, which should be among the lowest.

We are told that Central Maine Power, actually Avangrid which is owned by the Spanish company Iberdrola, is interested in doing something for Maine in exchange for running power lines through the state and tapping into the hydroelectric generating capabilities in Canada. We are being asked to support this project because it is “good for Maine,” but the reality is that, instead of cheap power, what we Mainers have been getting is the expensive end of a program focused on profit maximization.

If CMP is really serious about pushing this project through, all the ratepayers of Maine should share in the benefits, with rates that are on par with those in Washington State.

Alan Whitman, Auburn

Comments are not available on this story.