Central Maine Power (CMP) is once again asking for permission to raise our electric bills—this time by more than $400 million over five years, which could add up to $35 more per month for the average household by 2031. They say it’s for grid upgrades and new hires, but for many of us, it just feels like another hit we can’t afford.

Gov. Janet Mills has already called the proposed hike “massive and unacceptable.” So have state officials and the Public Advocate. They’re right. At a time when inflation is squeezing everyone—from seniors on fixed incomes to small business owners—CMP’s request ignores the economic reality we’re all living through.

We’ve already seen our electric bills jump in recent years. CMP claims this new increase will be softened by the expiration of storm recovery fees, but even the Public Advocate says it’s far too soon to know if that’s true. What we do know is that the average CMP customer’s bill has jumped from $138 to nearly $155 in just one year. Now CMP is asking us to shoulder hundreds more per year—without any guarantee that service will improve or outages will decrease.

This petition calls on the Maine Public Utilities Commission to deny CMP’s proposed distribution rate hike and to demand a better plan—one that centers affordability and transparency instead of putting corporate profits over people’s basic needs.

We urge the PUC to stand with ratepayers, not rubber-stamp another increase. Enough is enough.

Sign this petition if you believe Mainers deserve reliable power and a fair price—not another burden we can’t bear.