By Michael Shepherd - Feb 22, 2022
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Good Twosday morning from Augusta. Here's your soundtrack.

What we're watching today

The governor's attempt at a utility regulation compromise could be stuck between opposition from CMP allies and critics. The rhetoric around Gov. Janet Mills' utility accountability proposal has changed sharply since it was made public about three weeks ago. What looked like a broad bargain between lawmakers on both sides of public fights over Central Maine Power Co. now looks more endangered with utility critics ramping up their rhetoric.

The Democratic governor's bill would enshrine specific penalties for poor service and create a new process for Maine's utility regulator to force CMP or Versant Power, the state's other big electric utility, to sell assets if they cannot meet performance measures. If big utilities were ever forced out of Maine's market under those provisions, regulators would have to consider a consumer-owned utility similar to one being floated for the 2023 ballot.

Mills vetoed a consumer-owned utility proposal that cleared the Democratic-led Legislature last year. Her bill is a clear effort to balance frustration with CMP and her deep skepticism of allowing the Legislature or voters to simply force the big utilities out, which would prompt a lengthy and high-stakes legal fight. While she got CMP critics and defenders to sponsor the bill, critics have been the most interesting faction in the limited discussion on this idea so far.

Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, the energy panel's co-chair and the chief consumer-owned utility backer, initially told the Portland Press Herald that he planned to co-sponsor the bill. But he was not on it when it was released. Our Power, the group pushing the utility takeover referendum, is whipping opposition to the measure ahead of a Tuesday public hearing before Berry's committee, calling it a "'get out of jail free' card" for the utilities.

CMP has not looked eager to engage on this topic, either. Its parent company has already said regulators here have the necessary authority to protect consumers. Former Gov. Paul LePage, Mills' Republican opponent in 2022, has likened the governor's proposal to communism. All of this makes the legislative path forward a tight one for Mills.

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What we're reading

— Maine's "forever chemical" problem traces back to environmental tradeoffs made in the wake of the federal Clean Water Act. The landmark law from legendary Sen. Edmund S. Muskie cleaned up befouled rivers and funded sewage treatment plants across the country. But one byproduct of the new plants was a tainted sludge that states decided to use as fertilizer on farmland. Standards on dumping loosened in the 1990s while governments looked to help utilities dispose of the waste. The state's fight against the chemicals is now as confounding as the circumstances that led to the problem.

— Parents of young children feel left behind in politicians' calls for a return to "normal" around COVID-19. Kids who are too young to be vaccinated and even some older ones are seeing major disruptions in learning and day care settings. For example, one Auburn mother has had to manage five quarantines for a 3-year-old son and three for her 5-year-old daughter.

— Portland police deleted a Facebook post on a "ghost gun" encounter after backlash. Last Tuesday, a passenger of a vehicle dropped a homemade gun as he fled a traffic stop. He is still at large and has not been identified. But the Tuesday post mentioned his gun and gave no further details on the incident, underscoring political tension over the legal guns that generally do not have serial numbers, leading police to argue they are more likely than most to end up in the hands of criminals.

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Follow along today

9 a.m. Mills' utility accountability bill will get a hearing before the energy committee. Listen here.

Privacy bills will be heard by the Judiciary Committee, including one that would regulate companies or other entities that collect biometric identifiers of people, such as fingerprint or retina scans. Listen here.

The marine resources panel will work on high-profile bills to establish a legal defense fund for the lobster industry and limit the fishery for pogies, a key bait fish. Listen here.

10 a.m. It's a bond day in the budget committee, which will hold a work session on 15 borrowing proposals ranging from land conservation to weatherization and the replacement of Maine Public infrastructure with an eye toward releasing a package of proposals to go to voters. Listen here.

1 p.m. The health committee will take testimony on more of the major child welfare reforms proposed by lawmakers this session, including continuing a program that contracts management of low-risk cases to outside providers and limiting state caseworker workloads. Listen here.

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📷 Lead photo: Central Maine Power utility lines are pictured on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, in Pownal. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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