As Our Power notes: “Ratepayers pay less, on average, to consumer-owned utilities than to CMP or Versant. First, they don’t have to skim profits off the top to pay dividends to investors, and, second, their executives’ first imperative is serving their customers rather than squeezing out as much profit as possible.Īs if to make the point, squeezing out profits at the expense of utility customers is exactly what Versant and CMP appear to be doing. Publicly-owned utilities consistently deliver greater reliability at a lower cost than for-profit operations for two simple reasons. The simple reality is that as long as its legal for corporations to drop unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, citizens and good-government groups will almost always be blown out of the water.Ī citizen activist group called Our Power has succeeded in putting on the ballot a statewide initiative that would buy up the two utilities and roll their assets and operations into Pine Tree Power, a new nonprofit utility that will be owned by and operated for the benefit of the state of Maine and its citizens. Ninety-seven percent of the electric power in Maine is provided by two for-profit corporations, Versant and Central Maine Power (CMP).Īnd the profits extracted from Mainers by running these companies doesn’t stay in the state or even in the US: Versant is owned by a Enmax, a company based in Calgary, Canada CMP’s parent company is owned by Iberdrola SA, a Spanish corporation whose largest shareholder is the Qatar Investment Authority. So far, no members of Congress or the administration have picked up on my suggestion, but the people in Maine have a similar idea and they’re moving forward with it. They could then be run for the public interest, prevented from continuing to fund climate change denial, and end their support of toxic Republican politicians. What do you get when you take a confrontational evangelical sermon on “slut-shaming” given by a woman who calls herself Sister Candy on college campuses, remix it and give it a trap beat? A hit, thanks to comedian/rapper Angel Laketa Moore and artists Carl Dixon and Steve Terrell.Back in 2022, I suggested that our federal government should spend about one-third of the cost of the Trump Tax Cuts to buy the three largest oil companies in this country. Past champion: So nice, it must be mentioned twice - “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo (2021) The post-ironic, TikTok-heavy, too online, micro-hit song of the summer: “The Margarita Song” by That Chick Angel, Casa Di & Steve Terrell
2”, a treatise on modern dating with an undeniable hook, and a very creative pronunciation of the word “Liar.” (That boy’s a … Leo?) Few songs have six-plus months worth of staying power, but few songs have challenged what a pop hook can sound like: space-y and, at times, charmingly self-effacing. The dream duo of PinkPantheress hyperpop-punk and lackadaisical rapper Ice Spice created “Boy’s a Liar PT. Past champion: “Break My Soul” by Beyoncé (2022) Song of the summer that inexplicably came out in January: “Boy's a Liar PT.
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