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Maine Lawmakers, Union Officials Concerned About Sale Of Emera Maine

Emera Maine via BDN
State lawmakers and union officials are expressing concerns about the proposed sale of the state's second-largest electric utility, Emera Maine, to a small Canadian company called Enmax.

State lawmakers and union officials are expressing concerns about the proposed sale of the state's second-largest electric utility, Emera Maine, to a small Canadian company called Enmax.

Maine Senate president Troy Jackson says the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) should make sure that Enmax does not take on too much debt to finance the $1.3 billion dollar purchase.

"We don't want to see a situation where they have to raise rates really high just to clear their debt, and we certainly don't want them to lay off workers, or a combination of both,” Jackson says. “And so the PUC's got to make sure that this is even viable to start with.”

Lawmakers this year passed a measure that could strengthen the PUC's standards of review, including a provision that such mergers and acquisitions are found to be a "net benefit" for consumers.

In an email, a spokesperson for Emera says the utility would remain a Maine-based company under the deal and would honor existing collective bargaining agreements.

Originally published Aug. 7, 2019.

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.