To be transparent, I’m an employee of Central Maine Power, but first and foremost I’m a lifelong Mainer who pays taxes, takes his vote seriously and has a monthly power bill.

I’m writing to express my concerns behind LD 1708 and its misleading narratives that pushed the act through Maine’s Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology and into a bill headed for a Legislature vote.

I am fearful that the bill’s proponents have successfully painted a poor picture of CMP — one of an unethical and greedy corporation that only cares about money and not its customers.

This picture is both troubling and hurtful as a CMP employee. CMP truly cares about the communities it serves, and its customers. We take pride in our jobs. I see it, and practice it, every single day. If this bill is passed, I’m worried it will be because the proponents were successful in veiling the bill’s issues.

For instance:

— There’s no job promise for the 340 CMP (that includes me) and 200 Avangrid non-union employees. That’s 540 Maine friends, family members and neighbors that could be without a job.

— There’s a job promise for CMP’s 650 unionized workers, but only for two years.

— The takeover could cost Mainers more than $13.5 billion. That’s triple the state’s current debt load, and all the risk would fall solely on Maine’s electric customers.

LD 1708 isn’t a good deal for Mainers. I urge my fellow Mainers to investigate the language behind the proposed takeover, and think about its potential costs and impacts to hardworking Mainers.

Jeremy Pettengill, Livermore