To the Editor:

Central Maine Power’s (CMP) electricity corridor is a bad deal for Maine for many reasons, and I believe that is why CMP, which has been ranked as the worst-run U.S. company for customer satisfaction (https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/central-maine-power-again-ranks-worst-in-us-for-business-customer-satisfaction), is spending millions of dollars on deceptive ads trying to confuse people and convince them to support something they know has been very unpopular across the state.

CMP’s latest line of deception is about “retroactive laws.” Voting YES on Question-1 on the upcoming ballot stops the CMP power corridor from going forward, and its retroactivity provisions are focused squarely on this issue and not some broad attempt to prevent any other kind of project or to hurt Maine’s economy. It merely reinforces existing law and requires these kinds of high-impact power projects to be approved by the legislature as the law intends.

CMP’s power corridor can’t win on the merits. As affirmed by the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the CMP corridor clearcuts pristine forest land, negatively impacts deer and brook trout habitats as well as wetlands, creates very few permanent jobs, and does not address climate change. And all this just to bring power from Quebec to Massachusetts so that CMP and Hydro Quebec can make a whole lot of money at our expense. (https://www.nrcm.org/programs/climate/proposed-cmp-transmission-line-bad-deal-maine/)

Maine should not be used as an extension cord for Massachusetts.

Please vote YES on Question-1 to reject the CMP power corridor and to show that Mainers can not be deceived by CMP’s dishonest big-money ads.

James Bilancia

Brewer