Maine will vote coming Tuesday whether to dissolve the investor owned utility model and set up a customer-owned utility. This effort is driven by public outrage over a drop in service levels, increased outages, and higher bills. Regardless of the outcome, and setting aside the merits of the proposed public-ownership model, what is worth noting is the growing belief that the traditional utility model and performance is not working anymore. On a different note, FTI’s recent shareholder activism report highlights utilities to be the most vulnerable sector due to performance concerns. Most US utilities are still addressing rising costs, affordability, and energy transition issues in a piecemeal manner, hoping the patchwork of efforts to be enough, when it is overwhelmingly clear a new comprehensive model or paradigm is needed.
#utilities #energytransition #utilityinnovation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/04/maine-power-utilities-ballot/
