By Molly Lovell
Staff Writer

Peter Hansen said it’s only fair that if the town does something to help Central Maine Power with a project it wants to bring through Kennebunk, CMP should do something for the town.
Hansen is president of CEEK, or Citizens for Electrical Equality in Kennebunk, and has been working for more than a decade to allow Kennebunk Light and Power District to serve a portion of CMP’s customers in Kennebunk’s Lower Village – the only portion of town served by CMP.
CMP was in front of the board of selectmen in September for a zoning change that would allow the company to complete a portion of a transmission upgrade that is expected to run through 80 communities.
A zoning change is necessary because the town’s current ordinance has height restrictions that doesn’t allow for the proposed transmission lines. A public vote is also required. However, selectmen decided in September to extend the public hearing to find out if the town can use the zoning change as a bargaining tool for the Lower Village service area.
The next public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10 at town hall.
According to town attorney Bill Dale, the law doesn’t prevent the board from tying the two issues together and letting the issue go before the Public Utilities Commission.
Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said if the board decides not to allow the zoning changes to move forward, CMP can take the issue to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which can override the town’s decision.
“That means the PUC can also decide how many poles at what height will go in to Kennebunk. The PUC is at the driver’s controls,” Tibbetts said.
He said under another option, the board can decide not to tie the two issues together. If the public then votes it down, he said another door opens for CMP to go to the commission.
CMP spokesman John Carroll has said the company is not interested in selling the Lower Village service area to Kennebunk Light and Power, and that it doesn’t believe the two issues should be tied together.
“We are applying to the town of Kennebunk as a property owner and taxpayer for a change in the ordinance. We don’t think it’s linked to whether we should be able to keep our property or business in town,” Carroll said.
Sharon Staz, general manager at Kennebunk Light and Power, said the board of trustees hasn’t officially taken a stance on the issue.
She also doesn’t believe the town attorney answered the board of selectmen’s questions when it asked if it could tie the two issues together.
“I would suggest the selectmen get the answers to the questions that they asked at the hearing in September,” she said.
Staz has been general manager at Kennebunk Light and Power since 1998.
She said she has been involved in more than a dozen contacts with CMP, either in person, or via mail or phone, regarding purchase of the Lower Village service area.
She said offers to CMP have ranged from $1.3 million to $1.5 million.
Staz said Lower Village customers would benefit if served by Kennebunk Light and Power through better response time and improvements in infrastructure.
“I think the benefits to the town as a whole would be a right fit,” she said.
Staz said police and fire personnel have to stand by while waiting for a response to a trouble call. She said in the long run, the town would save money because Kennebunk Light and Power could respond quicker than CMP.
She also said it would eliminate confusion among customers.
“Many customers in that area are seasonal. They will call us and say, ‘Why don’t I have power?’ and we say, ‘We don’t know,’ because we don’t serve them,” Staz said.
Hansen, who lives in Lower Village, said the issue should be decided by the PUC because he believes it will consider public opinion when it makes its decision.

Molly Lovell can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 223 or news@kennebunkpost.com.