Maine voters face a busy ballot on Tuesday in an off-year election dominated by a decision over whether to replace the state's two much-criticized private electric utilities. Voters will decide whether to restore language about honoring obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of the state constitution. Other referendums include a vote on whether to attempt to curb influence from foreign governments and entities on state elections.
Supporters said there was little to lose because of the utilities' poor performance. But critics said there's no guarantee the nonprofit utility would perform any better while the move could spark lawsuits and cost billions — as much as $13.5 billion — to buy out the existing utilities.
Mainers will be asked to ban foreign government spending in local and state referendums, closing a loophole in federal election law that a Canadian utility giant exploited to protect a high-profile project in the state. The Canadian-government-owned Hydro Quebec donated millions in a failed attempt to stop a proposal to halt a cross-border hydropower transmission project in which the utility stood to earn $10 billion. US TO STRENGTHEN ELECTRIC GRID WITH $3.
Voters will decide whether to restore long-removed language about Maine's obligations to Native American tribes to the printed versions of its constitution. Maine inherited the treaties from Massachusetts when it became its own state more than 200 years ago. The language still applies, but it was removed from the printed constitution in the 19th century.
Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »