Maine’s Secretary of State Clears Path for Voters to Consider Public Power Utility in 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 12, 2022

Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in late November announced the completion of the certification of petitions that will allow voters in the state next year to consider replacing investor-owned utilities in Maine with a statewide, consumer-owned utility.

Bellows confirmed that 69,735 valid signatures were submitted for the initiative, enough to move forward to the November 2023 ballot.

The Maine Legislature will now consider this initiative, which would replace Central Maine
Power and Versant Power with a nonprofit, Maine-owned utility.

Legislators will have the opportunity to enact the bill as written or to send it forward to a statewide vote on the November 2023 ballot.

In October, a group in Maine called Our Power submitted more than 80,000 signatures from voters in 422 Maine towns.