Enmax to retain ownership of Maine-based power company after millions spent in state election

Calgary-owned Enmax will continue its ownership of a Maine-based power company following an election campaign that saw millions of dollars sent south of the border.

On Tuesday, voters in Maine rejected a proposal to dismantle the northeastern state’s two largest privately-owned electric utilities to create a consumer-owned utility called Pine Tree Power.

One of those electricity companies is Versant Power, which Enmax acquired in a deal in 2020 valued at $1.8 billion.

Regulatory filings show Enmax sent $15 million to a U.S based non-profit in 2023 to campaign in opposition to the proposal, doubling its spending on the referendum since July.

The non-profit, called Maine Energy Progress, was founded by Enmax and Versant Power, according to the Maine Ethics Commissioner.

Proponents of Pine Tree Power said its campaign was outspent 37:1 through opposition campaigns funded by the parent companies of the state’s two largest private power companies.

“What made that all the more frustrating was that was money that could have been going in to fixing the problems of all these people,” said Lucy Hochschartner, a spokesperson with the Pine Tree Power campaign. “It was frustrating as well to see that our utilities tried to hide that they were spending that money, put that money through front groups, paid politicians, paid many consulting firms to really try and appear as if they were independent from the utilities.”

Supporters of the Pine Tree Power Company campaign have told Global News the referendum was triggered after concerns from Mainers about the rising cost of electricity and foreign ownership in its electrical grid.

“Maine has the worst utilities in the nation, we have the most frequent outages, they have very high prices, they’ve disconnected many of their customers, they’re not helping us transition to clean energy,” Hochschartner said.

A “yes” vote would have kickstarted a process to acquire the electricity providers and their infrastructure from their parent companies to form the publicly-owned utility provider.

In a statement to Global News, Enmax’s CEO said the utility welcomes the results of Tuesday’s referendum, and thanks voters in Maine for “the opportunity to continue to serve our customers there.”

“Customers are at the centre of everything we do — here in Calgary and in Maine. As a stand-alone subsidiary of Enmax, Versant Power will continue to focus on providing safe, reliable service to customers, and the health and safety of their 500-plus team members,” Mark Poweska said in a statement.

“This is a good outcome that will have long-term benefits for customers on both sides of the border.”

Enmax previously told Global News that fees and rates were not affected by its purchase or operations of Versant Power.

However, Maine residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of another ballot initiative that would make it illegal for companies or entities owned or controlled by foreign governments to spend money to influence voters in state elections.

“It’s money that’s not coming from Maine, it’s not coming from voters, and they took that money to drown out the will of the people,” Hochschartner said. “I think it’s very significant that Maine voters resoundingly said, ‘We want our voices to be heard.'”