Cost effective heating / your ideas welcome

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Eastern Maine Electric has the lowest power cost of the big utilities.

Maine has several municipal utilities that are heavily subsidized by local tax dollars which give the illusion of lower delivered power costs. Much of our power in Eastern Maine comes from clean efficient nuclear power which does not generate carbon dioxide, which is plant food.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Maine has several municipal utilities that are heavily subsidized by local tax dollars which give the illusion of lower delivered power costs. Much of our power in Eastern Maine comes from clean efficient nuclear power which does not generate carbon dioxide, which is plant food.

Never heard of a municipal utility receiving local tax subsidies. All the ones I'm aware of operate as enterprises, entirely paying for themselves. HWC recently opted to connect with the Canadian grid, which is heavily hydro sourced. Their rates will drop even lower then.

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Eastern Maine Electric has the lowest power cost of the big utilities.

Maine has several municipal utilities that are heavily subsidized by local tax dollars which give the illusion of lower delivered power costs. Much of our power in Eastern Maine comes from clean efficient nuclear power which does not generate carbon dioxide, which is plant food.

HWC is municipally owned, but not a cent of taxpayer dollars go from the town to HWC. HWC has assets of over $5 million and is well managed and doesn't need to make a profit, it just needs to break even. They do that and are able to set rates lower than commercial power companies. Eastern Maine is a coop, but it would be impossible for them to come close to these municipal utilities because they have such a large coverage area to maintain. Eastern Maine started as part of REA which stood for Rural Electrification Act. The REA was federal subsidy that allowed electrification in rural America. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact it was a good thing. My point is Eastern Maine Electric Coop wouldn't exist without federal subsidy to get started.

Here's some history on HWC.
http://hwco.org/wp-content/uploads/2...Co-History.pdf