Voter Forum on Pine Tree Power Referendums

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FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

When: Monday, October 16, 2023 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick*
Sponsors: Presented by Bowdoin College and Midcoast Senior College
Admission: Free

This forum will provide voters with a debate between advocates and opponents of the Pine Tree Power Referendum, to be voted on by Mainers in November 2023.

This November Mainers will vote on the Pine Tree Power Initiative (Question #3). The Pine Tree Power Initiative asks whether the voters support the creation of a non-profit electricity transmission and distribution utility to replace the privately owned for-profit Central Maine Power and Versant. Also to be voted on is a related referendum (Question #1) that affects the financing of Pine Tree Power. An advocate and an opponent of Pine Tree Power will appear at the forum and answer questions from the moderators, Tux Turkel (formerly of The Portland Press Herald) and Lori Valigra (Bangor Daily News), about the referendum proposal. Audience members will also be allowed to question the panelists. The goal of the forum is to provide voters with detailed information about the referendum issues.

NOVEMBER 2023 REFERENDUM ELECTION BALLOT QUESTIONS:

QUESTION 3: An Act to Create the Pine Tree Power Company, a Nonprofit, Customer-owned Utility. Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?

QUESTION 1: An Act to Require Voter Approval of Certain Borrowing by Government-controlled Entities and Utilities and to Provide Voters More Information Regarding That Borrowing. Do you want to bar some quasi-governmental entities and all consumer-owned electric utilities from taking on more than $1 billion in debt unless they get statewide voter approval?

Resources:

Moderators:

• Tux Turkel (formerly of The Portland Press Herald)
• Lori Valigra (Bangor Daily News)

Presenting opponent of Question 3

• James Cohen, James Cohen, attorney with the Portland-based Verrill law firm.  See https://www.verrill-law.com/james-i-cohen/

Presenting proponent of Question 3

• John Brautigam, chair of OurPower, the organization which put the initiative before the legislature. See https://usm.maine.edu/directories/people/john-brautigam

* Kresge Auditorium is in the lower level of the Visual Arts Center. The building has a lift for wheelchairs, but no elevator to the lower level. Please advise us if you use a wheelchair and require the lift. Seating is limited; reservations are not accepted. You may arrive up to 30 minutes before the program begins. If all seats are taken, we will close the room. Please call 725-4900 or email: mscoffice@midcoastseniorcollege.org with any questions.