Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine
Maine "leaders" societal electrification and "renewable" BS is as recklessly stupid as it is arrogant
Maine’s energy goals depend on a regulatory process people can trust | Opinion
Uncertain investment challenges employers, apprenticeship programs and the next generation of workers.
Posted 10/12/26 at 4:58 AM
Tim Burgess
Tim Burgess is assistant business manager of IBEW Local 104.
Uncertain investment challenges employers, apprenticeship programs and the next generation of workers.
Posted 10/12/26 at 4:58 AM
Tim Burgess
Tim Burgess is assistant business manager of IBEW Local 104.
(emphasis added)
When a severe storm knocks out power in the middle of the night, Mainers don’t think about regulatory dockets — they just look for the flashing lights of utility trucks rolling down their streets. The recent recommendation to deny Central Maine Power’s request for temporary rates has sparked a fierce statewide debate over affordability, spending and the future of our electric system.
These are critical issues that affect every household, but for the men and women who build, maintain and restore our grid, a far more troubling question is emerging.
What happens to the safety and stability of our workforce when participants follow the precise regulatory rules laid out by the state, only to be told at the finish line that the path no longer applies?
Central Maine Power sought temporary rates after the Public Utilities Commission itself
indicated they were available to address the severe financial uncertainty following the dismissal of the company’s long-term grid investment plan. CMP maintains that it followed the direction provided by regulators when it pursued temporary rates, filed the case, presented extensive evidence and all involved parties participated in good faith.
Everyone assumed that the process established by our regulators was available, stable and reliable. The recommendation currently before the commission calls that fundamental assumption into question.
For most Mainers, utility regulation feels abstract. For those who wear the tool belt and climb the poles, it is anything but. Decisions made in Augusta determine whether local contractors hire apprentices, whether vital grid projects move forward, whether stable work exists next year and whether Maine will possess the skilled workforce necessary to meet its aggressive energy and economic development goals.
Predictable investment, workforce development, apprenticeships and long-term grid reliability are interconnected. Uncertain investment makes it significantly harder for employers to expand their operations, harder for joint apprenticeship programs to grow and harder to prepare the next generation of highly skilled workers. This is not a matter of corporate self-interest. It goes directly to the heart of how safely the infrastructure is built.
Maine’s broader, long-term policy objectives sharpen the point. Our state leaders continue to aggressively promote widespread electrification, economic development, transportation electrification, rapid heat pump adoption and clean energy expansion. Every one of these initiatives drives up the daily demand for electrical infrastructure, heavy-duty service upgrades and overall grid capacity.
Meeting these goals requires a larger workforce and a stronger, more resilient grid. There is an inherent contradiction in encouraging a society-wide dependence on electricity while simultaneously creating deep financial uncertainty around the exact investments that such dependence requires.................................
When a severe storm knocks out power in the middle of the night, Mainers don’t think about regulatory dockets — they just look for the flashing lights of utility trucks rolling down their streets. The recent recommendation to deny Central Maine Power’s request for temporary rates has sparked a fierce statewide debate over affordability, spending and the future of our electric system.
These are critical issues that affect every household, but for the men and women who build, maintain and restore our grid, a far more troubling question is emerging.
What happens to the safety and stability of our workforce when participants follow the precise regulatory rules laid out by the state, only to be told at the finish line that the path no longer applies?
Central Maine Power sought temporary rates after the Public Utilities Commission itself
indicated they were available to address the severe financial uncertainty following the dismissal of the company’s long-term grid investment plan. CMP maintains that it followed the direction provided by regulators when it pursued temporary rates, filed the case, presented extensive evidence and all involved parties participated in good faith.
Everyone assumed that the process established by our regulators was available, stable and reliable. The recommendation currently before the commission calls that fundamental assumption into question.
For most Mainers, utility regulation feels abstract. For those who wear the tool belt and climb the poles, it is anything but. Decisions made in Augusta determine whether local contractors hire apprentices, whether vital grid projects move forward, whether stable work exists next year and whether Maine will possess the skilled workforce necessary to meet its aggressive energy and economic development goals.
Predictable investment, workforce development, apprenticeships and long-term grid reliability are interconnected. Uncertain investment makes it significantly harder for employers to expand their operations, harder for joint apprenticeship programs to grow and harder to prepare the next generation of highly skilled workers. This is not a matter of corporate self-interest. It goes directly to the heart of how safely the infrastructure is built.
Maine’s broader, long-term policy objectives sharpen the point. Our state leaders continue to aggressively promote widespread electrification, economic development, transportation electrification, rapid heat pump adoption and clean energy expansion. Every one of these initiatives drives up the daily demand for electrical infrastructure, heavy-duty service upgrades and overall grid capacity.
Meeting these goals requires a larger workforce and a stronger, more resilient grid. There is an inherent contradiction in encouraging a society-wide dependence on electricity while simultaneously creating deep financial uncertainty around the exact investments that such dependence requires.................................
Read the rest at https://www.pressherald.com/2026/10/12/maines-energy-goals-depend-on-a-regulatory-process-people-can-trust-opinion/
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Dan McKay
The unintentional consequences of "Beneficial Electrification" or a blatant attempt to takeover CMP ? Now that Bartlett has left, perhaps he can be straight up with us. Which is it, Phil?
14 hours ago