Texas and Maine voters tomorrow (Nov. 7) face contested energy-related ballot initiatives with billion dollar price tags.
In Texas, Proposition 7 would amend the state constitution to create a $10 billion Texas Energy Fund, administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, to build and refurbish gas-fired electric generating plants, a response to the state’s repeated reliability problems during severe winter and summer weather in recent years. Another $3 billion in constitutional amendments would aid the state’s weakened infrastructure.
The Texas Tribune explains that the money is available because the state ran a $33 billion surplus in revenue as the legislature last met. “But lawmakers are constitutionally required to adhere to spending caps built into the budget. The infrastructure spending is going to the voters because one way around the caps is to allocate new spending through voter-approved constitutional amendments.” The legislature approved putting Prop. 7 on the November ballot through S.B. 2627.
Under Prop. 7, $5 billion would provide 3% interest rate loans for new dispatchable generation of at least 100 MW of capacity. The wording specifically restricts battery storage. Plants online by July 2029 would get a bonus. The remainder of the fund would go to repairs for existing power plants and upgrades for the distribution grid around critical facilities such as hospitals and transmission outside of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid.
“Winter Storm Uri revealed the failures in our electricity market, specifically the lack of reliability” — State Sen. Charles Schwertner
The state’s powerful gas industry is supporting Prop. 7, including ConocoPhillips, Koch Companies, BASF Corporation Employees PAC, Texas Association of Manufacturers, Texas Oil and Gas Association, Texas Pipeline Association, and Valero Energy Corporation PAC, according to Ballotpedia. Republican State Sen. Charles Schwertner, who sponsored the amendment, said, “Winter Storm Uri revealed the failures in our electricity market, specifically the lack of reliability. … S.B. 2627 creates a completion bonus and zero-interest loan for new dispatchable generation resources directly targeted at ‘steel in the ground.’ It also provides low-interest loans for existing dispatchable generators as a mechanism for generators to access capital needed to maintain and make necessary improvements to existing generation resources.”
Opponents include Oneok, Inc., Environment Texas, Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, and Texas Consumer Association. Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger said, “We need, and Texans want, more clean energy, not less. There is strong support for more wind and solar energy, more battery storage, more energy efficiency, and more interconnection with the national grid. Unfortunately, the Legislature ignored these solutions to strengthen our electric grid while protecting consumers and the environment.”
No data is available on spending for and against Prop. 7 nor is there any polling data.
Maine’s Tuesday ballot offers two questions that impact utilities, both with billion dollar impacts. The most controversial, which has created nationwide attention, is Question 3. Voters could approve a hostile takeover of the state’s two electric distribution utilities, Central Maine Power and Versant Power. The two investor-owned (and foreign owned) utilities serve some 96% of Maine’s electric customers.
The ballot initiative would create a public power agency, Pine Tree Power Co., to essentially take over the two incumbent electric providers. The concept originally arose in the state legislature in 2021, when the state House approved a takeover bill, which the Senate rejected the following day. The two bodies then collaborated on revised legislation, which passed. Democratic Gov. Janel Mills then vetoed the bill. Proponents of the takeover then mounting a petition drive, gathering the needed signatures to get the plan on this year’s statewide off-year ballot.
High prices, poor service, and expensive missteps have driven the statewide anger at CMP and Versant. Among CMP’s errors, which also plays into the other ballot measure, Question 1, was a 2018 deal among CMP and several Massachusetts utilities to build a 145-mile high voltage transmission line to move power for Quebec south, known as New England Clean Energy Connect. In 2021, Maine voters killed the project through a ballot question, the most expensive initiative in the state’s history. Opponents of the power line raised $72 million and supporters dropped $72 million. CMP’s parent Avangrid then sued and last August a jury agreed 9-0 to let the construction go ahead.
Question 3 has become a major issue in the state and garnered a lot of attention outside Maine, including a front page story in early editions of yesterday’s (Nov. 5) Washington Post. The initiative has not become a partisan issue, as advocates and opponents can be found in both parties. Among the supporters are Vermont Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders and the national Sierra Club. Sanders said, “This year, Mainers are facing price-gouging and immoral disconnection notices from multinational utility companies. Power belongs in the hands of the people, not greedy corporations. Fortunately, Mainers have a rare chance to take control of an important part of their daily lives.”
Democratic Gov. Mills remains an opponent of the takeover. “The stakes are high. And if you have doubts as I do, let’s not gamble with Maine’s future – please vote no on Question 3,” Mills said in a pre-recorded audio message.
Pine Tree Power proponents have been vastly outspent by the incumbent utilities. According to Ballotpedia, Our Power, the group that organized the initiative, has spent about $1.2 million. CMP and its parent Avangrid and Versant and its parent ENMAX have spent about $38 million in opposition. A University of New Hampshire poll Oct. 19 said 56% of those surveyed said they oppose the takeover, with 31% in support and 13% undecided.
The other energy-related Maine ballot measure, Question 1, is a direct result of the dispute over Question 3. Question 1 reads, “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?” It’s an anti-Pine Tree Power and public power initiative.
CMP and Avangrid have put up $24.5 million in support on Question 1, with no opposition spending. The Bangor Daily News editorial board commented, “Question 1 is a direct response to Question 3 and, we think, a fairly cynical one. CMP quickly got the question on the ballot in case the Pine Tree Power referendum passes. Essentially, the question would require a public vote to approve the borrowing necessary to acquire CMP and Versant if Question 3 passes. This basically would give CMP a second opportunity to stop a utility takeover in case voters support it this November. We don’t have objections to a public vote on so much public borrowing – bonds to pay for transportation, water quality improvements and other large public works already require such votes. But, we do object to the reason this question is on the ballot.” The Bangor paper also opposes Question 3.
–Kennedy Maize
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