I am so moved that you wrote this when you were out of power. Your devotion to the truth, to history, and to your readers, is a bulwark against our deepest fears.
I am so moved that you wrote this when you were out of power. Your devotion to the truth, to history, and to your readers, is a bulwark against our deepest fears.
In November, Mainer's voted on several propositions one of which was whether the state of Maine could authorize a public utility to be established to replace two out of country utility companies which "service" most of the state of Maine. Between the two companies, CMP and Versant they spent almost $40 million to defeat Proposition 3. Of course they lied and made up stories about what would happen if a public run utility took over.
20% of the residential customers serviced by Versant have had their power turned off in the past year because they chose to eat and have a roof over their heads over electricity. With CMP, it was a little over 10%. Meanwhile the two companies enjoyed profits which they sent to Calgary, Alberta and the governments of Spain and Norway. The electric rates in ME are 4th highest in the US and the service provided by Versant ranks dead last in customer satisfaction.
I'm not sure where HCR lives in ME, obviously along the coast. I suspect she has been without power for over 48 hours as we were around Bar Harbor, ME. As usual Versant, did a lousy job of managing the repairs from the storm.
And BTW, the proposition was soundly defeated 67 - 33%. It seems advertising works. It should be noted that the state Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce stood with the utility companies.
Why should there be profits for companies (or individuals who own shares in such companies) when the objective, the raison d'etre, is to provide the public with an essential service? What a boneheaded idea!
And by logical and compassionate extension, why should anyone "profit" from education or illness of others?
I am a dyed in the wool capitalist, business dude. There are a zillion ways for private citizens to make money producing goods and services for consumers.
But the basics of life in a civilization should and could be provided at "cost" quite easily.
Health care is, IMO, the starkest example of corporate greed overwhelming public good. Our ridiculously expensive, uneven and unfair, health care тАЬsystemтАЭ is slowly collapsing as pharmaceutical and insurance companies rake in record profits. We are the only industrialized country putting profits ahead of citizensтАЩ well-being. And, of course, we are increasingly unhealthy and life expectancy is declining. American exceptionalism, indeed.
Proposing that we are one of the greatest countries in the world. We have the highest infant mortality rate, the worst healthcare, the sickest people. While insurance companies rule over doctors and deny coverage for whatever reason they choose. WeтАЩve given way too much power to insurance companies, and they rake in the dough and charge a fortune, and a lot of people canтАЩt even afford healthcare, even with Obamacare.
Or even with Medicare. Even in a big city with public transportation where seniors are not only not a priority but also not supposed to exist. Ageism is epidemic in America.
I just saw a item on TV, on NBC's national news, about how patients in certain corporate owned hospitals died, because the corporate owner did not provide enough people to monitor the equipment reading the patients' vitals. In one case, if I am remembering correctly, the monitoring was done in a central location in another building. Some entities should not be run for share holders or obscene salaries for top management.
It would help if the US Food Industry would quit putting crap in our food that serves company profits over the health of the American people. We know about the additives injected into our food to support longer shelf life etc. Many Americans suffer from food allergies that seem to disappear when dining on whatever they want in Europe! ItтАЩs expensive to have to buy organic all the time or only eat bakery items or pastas made with imported flour. ItтАЩs no wonder American life expectancy is in decline!
Look for sodium benzoate. I was doing a food demo for real maple syrup. I was comparing the ingredients. I used Vermont Maid which I have used for years. I liked the picture on it. It only had 2% maple syrup in it. In my newest ingredient check, there was only maple flavor-no maple syrup. To make things worse, I found sodium benzoate in it. hmmm sounded familiar- Yes in my shampoo. I have seen it many other foods. I believe it is a preservative.
Not if itтАЩs well run. Many hospitals, universities, schools, roads, etc are run privately. And well (and some not so well).Public utilities are as easily corrupted as any other organization. The state of Florida does not do a good job choosing its Public Service Commission, and you see that in the way utilities run. ItтАЩs not disastrous, but not efficient or sufficiently forward looking, in my opinion.
There are people in this world whose nature is to corruptly scheme and they can end up anywhere.
Public utilities can certainly be corrupted and poorly run. But their leaders, as employees of the public, can be fired - dismissed.
When was the last time the leaders of private healthcare companies were relieved of duty or prosecuted for their theft and fraud? Maybe we should ask the Sacklers ... or "Senator" Rick Scott?
As I remember it, Sen Scott was fired by his board. Following that he paid a very large fine, and his hospital corporation paid one of the largest fines in U. S. history.
IтАЩm not arguing that private corporations are better than public utilities. I am saying that being a public utility cannot prevent corruption.
Many private power companies exist and are well run, but operate within the authority of a public service commission.
Yes. The company paid a big fine. But it was allowed to continue as a legal entity. What if it had been dissolved and its officers jailed? Someone steals some groceries and goes to the slammer. Rick Scott oversees one of the great white collar crimes of our time and he is not only not jailed...but allowed to run for public office. And he is still rich! Sounds like Florida to me!
But back to your well taken point. What if a utility were a private non-profit enterprise under the supervision of a public service commission? A hybrid where the focus of the enterprise was delivering the service - not wealth accumulation for a few?
A very large public utility in the country ran corruptly for years. ItтАЩs executives cooked up a years-long scheme to sell it to a larger utility based on years of highly misleading information to the residents. Prosecutions await.
Yes, both can have issues. But you have, in theory, the ability to influence, and potentially reform, public-owned entities to a far greater degree than private ones.
Agreed. We have SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) for electricity and PG&E for gas. Thankful I don't live where PG&E is my only option for electricity. As a private corporation beholden to profits over people, PG&E has not taken the time to maintain their grid as well as SMUD. Now, after multiple lawsuits related to fires in CA, they have no choice but to get their act together. The new CEO, a woman, is doing a really good job.
Utilities, education, and healthcare should not be privatized. Profit hungry corporations always put their interests, making money, over the quality of service we pay for.
Yes! Privatizing is a trickledown тАЬplotтАЭ that is giving US much grief: a mercenary (non-draft army which deprives those of draft age of the democratic protection of their country essential to a democracy) military, a corrupt and ineffective health care system, fragmented public schools, which has led to disintegration and Trump.
We were out 28 hours but our town still has about 50% without power. Governor Mills (D) also supported Versant and CMP retaining control of the electric grid. Maybe this referendum wasn't the best devised plan but surely the concept of Mainers gaining ownership of our utilities is much wiser than being at the mercy of these two companies. Versant (our supplier) .may have the worst customer service but I believe CMP was the next lowest. Our bills are slated to increase January 1st...no doubt for them to recover the millions they spent trying to prevent a sale. Last Christmas Downeast Maine was without power for three days. Mainers are hardy and have a generous and adventurous spirit but get those lights and the heat back on! It was 19 degrees last night and not everyone has a generator. Thankfully, we do. In the spirit of the season, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! And, Heather, I hope you get your electricity back soon and thank you for "powering on" with your essay.
When I went off to college in Vermont in 1964 there were reportedly parts of the State that were just then getting electricity. I was amazed that someplace on the east coast could be that backwards; I had always thought the east coast was far ahead of Oregon. Too many years reading The New Yorker I suppose.
So how did Maine get electrical utilities owned by Canadians? Didn't they have water power since the 1600s?
Reminds me a little of the TX grid which is privately owned and not linked to the national grid. All for money. They were told 10 years ago that the grid needed repaired, but chose profits over repairs. The electric bills for these people after/during their freeze were in the thousands. They were gauged beyond imagination.
Maine has "out of country" power providers ?! I've never heard of such a thing. I live in Sacramento, CA. We have a choice of (2) providers - one of which is non-profit. I love my non-profit provider and they do 1000% better service and price wise than the statewide standard power company! People of Maine - make the change! You will be the winners!
I lived in Davis and then Sacramento in the late 1970's. We had PG&E for about six months before moving to Sacramento where we had SMUD. To this day, SMUD is the best electric company we've had--and we've had 11 different ones. PG&E was not very good. Of course, SMUD was publicly owned. Fortunately, most of the companies we've had were public utilities and really cared about their customers. But why wouldn't they since the executives and most of the staff lived in the service area.
In San Diego, where we are documented as having the highest kWh + transmission rate in the U.S., we are just now collecting signatures on a citizens initiative for the City of San Diego to create a public utility for electricity. San Diego Gas & Electric is investor-owned and their profits are immense, much sent to Sempra - SDG&E's parent company in Texas!
As for HCR's situation, I keep thinking of my mother's elderly friend in Maine, living alone, when power went out for a week and everything was buried in snow (probably 30 years ago). Barb barely survived.
I came here to say the same! Thank you for your dedication, and for this informative and well-written post. I hope you are cozy and that your power is back on soon. Xx
Lorraine, so beautifully put. I was going to say this as well - so now I can just join this amazing community - responding to our amazing leader. Blessings, Heather, may your external power soon reflect again the inner power that you share with us. Much love,
I am so moved that you wrote this when you were out of power. Your devotion to the truth, to history, and to your readers, is a bulwark against our deepest fears.
In November, Mainer's voted on several propositions one of which was whether the state of Maine could authorize a public utility to be established to replace two out of country utility companies which "service" most of the state of Maine. Between the two companies, CMP and Versant they spent almost $40 million to defeat Proposition 3. Of course they lied and made up stories about what would happen if a public run utility took over.
20% of the residential customers serviced by Versant have had their power turned off in the past year because they chose to eat and have a roof over their heads over electricity. With CMP, it was a little over 10%. Meanwhile the two companies enjoyed profits which they sent to Calgary, Alberta and the governments of Spain and Norway. The electric rates in ME are 4th highest in the US and the service provided by Versant ranks dead last in customer satisfaction.
I'm not sure where HCR lives in ME, obviously along the coast. I suspect she has been without power for over 48 hours as we were around Bar Harbor, ME. As usual Versant, did a lousy job of managing the repairs from the storm.
And BTW, the proposition was soundly defeated 67 - 33%. It seems advertising works. It should be noted that the state Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce stood with the utility companies.
Why should there be profits for companies (or individuals who own shares in such companies) when the objective, the raison d'etre, is to provide the public with an essential service? What a boneheaded idea!
And by logical and compassionate extension, why should anyone "profit" from education or illness of others?
I am a dyed in the wool capitalist, business dude. There are a zillion ways for private citizens to make money producing goods and services for consumers.
But the basics of life in a civilization should and could be provided at "cost" quite easily.
Health care is, IMO, the starkest example of corporate greed overwhelming public good. Our ridiculously expensive, uneven and unfair, health care тАЬsystemтАЭ is slowly collapsing as pharmaceutical and insurance companies rake in record profits. We are the only industrialized country putting profits ahead of citizensтАЩ well-being. And, of course, we are increasingly unhealthy and life expectancy is declining. American exceptionalism, indeed.
Proposing that we are one of the greatest countries in the world. We have the highest infant mortality rate, the worst healthcare, the sickest people. While insurance companies rule over doctors and deny coverage for whatever reason they choose. WeтАЩve given way too much power to insurance companies, and they rake in the dough and charge a fortune, and a lot of people canтАЩt even afford healthcare, even with Obamacare.
Or even with Medicare. Even in a big city with public transportation where seniors are not only not a priority but also not supposed to exist. Ageism is epidemic in America.
Exactly
It seems the government is having a say in health care by prohibiting treatments
I just saw a item on TV, on NBC's national news, about how patients in certain corporate owned hospitals died, because the corporate owner did not provide enough people to monitor the equipment reading the patients' vitals. In one case, if I am remembering correctly, the monitoring was done in a central location in another building. Some entities should not be run for share holders or obscene salaries for top management.
It would help if the US Food Industry would quit putting crap in our food that serves company profits over the health of the American people. We know about the additives injected into our food to support longer shelf life etc. Many Americans suffer from food allergies that seem to disappear when dining on whatever they want in Europe! ItтАЩs expensive to have to buy organic all the time or only eat bakery items or pastas made with imported flour. ItтАЩs no wonder American life expectancy is in decline!
Look for sodium benzoate. I was doing a food demo for real maple syrup. I was comparing the ingredients. I used Vermont Maid which I have used for years. I liked the picture on it. It only had 2% maple syrup in it. In my newest ingredient check, there was only maple flavor-no maple syrup. To make things worse, I found sodium benzoate in it. hmmm sounded familiar- Yes in my shampoo. I have seen it many other foods. I believe it is a preservative.
Hear! Hear! Dave A.! I have never been able to write this important opinion (truth) with such verve! Thank you.
Not if itтАЩs well run. Many hospitals, universities, schools, roads, etc are run privately. And well (and some not so well).Public utilities are as easily corrupted as any other organization. The state of Florida does not do a good job choosing its Public Service Commission, and you see that in the way utilities run. ItтАЩs not disastrous, but not efficient or sufficiently forward looking, in my opinion.
There are people in this world whose nature is to corruptly scheme and they can end up anywhere.
Public utilities can certainly be corrupted and poorly run. But their leaders, as employees of the public, can be fired - dismissed.
When was the last time the leaders of private healthcare companies were relieved of duty or prosecuted for their theft and fraud? Maybe we should ask the Sacklers ... or "Senator" Rick Scott?
Yes---gop always screams about govt corruption and waste---very little accountability of private corp. corruption and waste.
As I remember it, Sen Scott was fired by his board. Following that he paid a very large fine, and his hospital corporation paid one of the largest fines in U. S. history.
IтАЩm not arguing that private corporations are better than public utilities. I am saying that being a public utility cannot prevent corruption.
Many private power companies exist and are well run, but operate within the authority of a public service commission.
Yes. The company paid a big fine. But it was allowed to continue as a legal entity. What if it had been dissolved and its officers jailed? Someone steals some groceries and goes to the slammer. Rick Scott oversees one of the great white collar crimes of our time and he is not only not jailed...but allowed to run for public office. And he is still rich! Sounds like Florida to me!
But back to your well taken point. What if a utility were a private non-profit enterprise under the supervision of a public service commission? A hybrid where the focus of the enterprise was delivering the service - not wealth accumulation for a few?
A very large public utility in the country ran corruptly for years. ItтАЩs executives cooked up a years-long scheme to sell it to a larger utility based on years of highly misleading information to the residents. Prosecutions await.
Yes, both can have issues. But you have, in theory, the ability to influence, and potentially reform, public-owned entities to a far greater degree than private ones.
Hear! hear!
It's been my experience that Public Utilities are far superior to Corporate Utilities.
Agreed. We have SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) for electricity and PG&E for gas. Thankful I don't live where PG&E is my only option for electricity. As a private corporation beholden to profits over people, PG&E has not taken the time to maintain their grid as well as SMUD. Now, after multiple lawsuits related to fires in CA, they have no choice but to get their act together. The new CEO, a woman, is doing a really good job.
Utilities, education, and healthcare should not be privatized. Profit hungry corporations always put their interests, making money, over the quality of service we pay for.
Yes! Privatizing is a trickledown тАЬplotтАЭ that is giving US much grief: a mercenary (non-draft army which deprives those of draft age of the democratic protection of their country essential to a democracy) military, a corrupt and ineffective health care system, fragmented public schools, which has led to disintegration and Trump.
We were out 28 hours but our town still has about 50% without power. Governor Mills (D) also supported Versant and CMP retaining control of the electric grid. Maybe this referendum wasn't the best devised plan but surely the concept of Mainers gaining ownership of our utilities is much wiser than being at the mercy of these two companies. Versant (our supplier) .may have the worst customer service but I believe CMP was the next lowest. Our bills are slated to increase January 1st...no doubt for them to recover the millions they spent trying to prevent a sale. Last Christmas Downeast Maine was without power for three days. Mainers are hardy and have a generous and adventurous spirit but get those lights and the heat back on! It was 19 degrees last night and not everyone has a generator. Thankfully, we do. In the spirit of the season, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! And, Heather, I hope you get your electricity back soon and thank you for "powering on" with your essay.
When I went off to college in Vermont in 1964 there were reportedly parts of the State that were just then getting electricity. I was amazed that someplace on the east coast could be that backwards; I had always thought the east coast was far ahead of Oregon. Too many years reading The New Yorker I suppose.
So how did Maine get electrical utilities owned by Canadians? Didn't they have water power since the 1600s?
Reminds me a little of the TX grid which is privately owned and not linked to the national grid. All for money. They were told 10 years ago that the grid needed repaired, but chose profits over repairs. The electric bills for these people after/during their freeze were in the thousands. They were gauged beyond imagination.
Maine has "out of country" power providers ?! I've never heard of such a thing. I live in Sacramento, CA. We have a choice of (2) providers - one of which is non-profit. I love my non-profit provider and they do 1000% better service and price wise than the statewide standard power company! People of Maine - make the change! You will be the winners!
Sounds a lot like PG&E in CA. Just horrible service but record profits.
If any company was ever begging to be taken over by state government, it is PG&E.
I lived in Davis and then Sacramento in the late 1970's. We had PG&E for about six months before moving to Sacramento where we had SMUD. To this day, SMUD is the best electric company we've had--and we've had 11 different ones. PG&E was not very good. Of course, SMUD was publicly owned. Fortunately, most of the companies we've had were public utilities and really cared about their customers. But why wouldn't they since the executives and most of the staff lived in the service area.
I do not know anything about SMUD but PG&E has just been a disaster.
In San Diego, where we are documented as having the highest kWh + transmission rate in the U.S., we are just now collecting signatures on a citizens initiative for the City of San Diego to create a public utility for electricity. San Diego Gas & Electric is investor-owned and their profits are immense, much sent to Sempra - SDG&E's parent company in Texas!
As for HCR's situation, I keep thinking of my mother's elderly friend in Maine, living alone, when power went out for a week and everything was buried in snow (probably 30 years ago). Barb barely survived.
Website for publicly-owned electricity utility in San Diego CA. https://wearepowersandiego.com/
ЁЯШм
Not onl that, but the piece itself came out quite clean. When I work fast it's always written with each sentence in reverse order, so Good job!
How do you do that? ЁЯд╖тАНтЩВя╕П
I came here to say the same! Thank you for your dedication, and for this informative and well-written post. I hope you are cozy and that your power is back on soon. Xx
Easy it is, or, not that hard at least.
Lorraine, so beautifully put. I was going to say this as well - so now I can just join this amazing community - responding to our amazing leader. Blessings, Heather, may your external power soon reflect again the inner power that you share with us. Much love,
Huzzah! Beautifully stated and so spot-on!!