By Michael Shepherd - Oct. 6, 2023
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Maine's electric utilities continue to swamp takeover proponents in spending. The parents of Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power dumped another $8 million from July through September into their political effort against Question 3, the item on Maine's November ballot that would replace the companies with an elected board.

The spending by the utilities has been a trend throughout this campaign, but it is an acute problem for Our Power, the group arguing for Question 3. It has raised $1 million over the course of the campaign, while the utilities spent almost $32 million on their political efforts as of Sept. 30, according to updated filings due to the Maine Ethics Commission on Thursday.

Money does not always win campaigns. CMP, for example, spent a record-smashing sum and lost a 2021 referendum on their hydropower corridor project. But a different situation now seems to be brewing in the electorate. Versant's political group released a poll last month showing the utilities with a comfortable edge on the underdogs promoting Question 3.

Versant's political group, Maine Energy Progress, surpassed CMP's campaign arm to become the dominant spender over the course of 2023 during the last quarter. It spent a staggering $2.4 million on TV and cable ads alone in August and September, also shelling out $1.4 million for canvassers and other field operations staff during those two months.

CMP's political arm, Maine Affordable Energy, has taken a small step back in the campaign, but it still threw $2 million into an ad campaign at the end of last month. This spending shows how just certain pieces of their political effort are dwarfing the operation being run by Our Power.

The money difference at this point is going to make it hard for Our Power to close the gap. It has been advertising online, but it does not look to have the money for a major round of TV ads, while their opponents have been advertising on TV down to obscure streaming services for months.