Gordon L. Weil was Maine’s first public advocate and state energy director and led the negotiation to create the New England transmission system.

Higher electric rates are driving proposals on ways to cut power costs. The most obvious way is to adopt public power, but this idea has no chance when the investor-owned utilities can radically outspend volunteer efforts to convince Maine voters to vote for it.

There are answers that can contribute to significant reductions in electric bills without the apparently futile push for public power. They would apply to customers of Central Maine Power and Versant. The state’s other utilities — public power municipals and co-ops — already do much of what’s proposed and, as a result, have much lower rates.

Some things to consider:

1. Power supply. The standard offer will remain the power supply for most customers. It produces savings compared to other resources, because of its much larger customer base.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission seeks standard offers from generators, but does not promote competition. It should accept offers of any duration, and any provider should be allowed to make multiple offers. The range of choice would improve, and good rates might be locked in for longer periods.

Of course, the state itself could create a power supplier, a nonprofit whose market could be limited to Maine. This was the idea of the 1973 Power Authority of Maine proposal. The threshold question would be how to finance it.

2. Electric transmission. These are the major high-voltage power lines, owned by utilities, but managed as part of the New England Independent System Operator. I was the chair of the multi-state, multi-utility negotiations that created this operation. But that was 30 years ago. It’s time to check if the system still works for Maine.

The state should compare ISO-NE with a possible arrangement linking it to the Canadian Maritime systems. Their much simpler operations might be less costly than the six-state arrangement in which Maine is required to assume costs in other states that may not make economic sense. Or Maine might go it alone. I don’t have the answer, but it’s a valid question.

3. Electric distribution. These local wires were the subject of the 2023 public power referendum.  While the state may not do it, Maine municipalities are authorized by law to create their own distribution utilities, which don’t have to produce a profit and may borrow at tax-exempt rates.  Wires costs could come down, and a municipality would assure the reliability of its own system.

The law prescribes the process of creating a municipal utility, and it starts with the will of the local people and perhaps a small legislative amendment. Municipalities can also own nonprofit generation, and they may group together. There’s a multi-town Portland Water District. Is a Portland Power District possible?

4. Profit. The MPUC decides on how much profit the investor-owned utilities can take from customers. It is often based on what utilities elsewhere receive. This is a self-fulfilling system for the utilities. The Legislature or the MPUC could set a profit cap. If the utilities threatened to leave if they did not receive more, that could open the way to public power.

About 50 years too late, utilities have begun thinking about strengthening their distribution lines to better withstand storms. Partly because of this lag, customers face big storm-related bills. Utilities ought to be required to have comprehensive, long-term improvement programs and to put some revenues into a sinking fund that could help pay costs when a storm hits.

Maybe all of this can’t or won’t happen. But among the many candidates for governor, there might be some who can use these ideas in their platform. Doing nothing is not a solution.