Mainers need to know that CMP and Hydro-Quebec have one clear plan: buy this election.

We knew that CMP and Hydro-Quebec had teamed up to spend jaw-dropping sums of money to try and gets their unpopular corridor built, but we now know that they've spent more than 2 million in 100 days — about $20,000 a day — on this campaign, and that should put Mainers on notice that CMP and Hydro-Quebec will do anything to win this election.

Of course, it doesn't matter what CMP spends: this corridor is still a terrible deal for Mainers. And where does CMP get $20,000 a day to spend on consultants and TV ads? From Us! - Maine's ratepayers, who have been the victims of the worst electrical service in the nation according to JD Power, are paying for a brazenly false, multi-million dollar ad campaign to help CMP and their foreign owners make even more money. 

Instead of spending this money on fixing the overbilling problems, customer service problems, and reliability problems CMP and Hydro-Quebec have been having, CMP is paying Washington, D.C., consulting firms and HQ is paying foreign consulting firms to try and sell Mainers on the corridor with false television advertising. Every single dollar could help relieve a CMP or HQ customer's stress, but corridor profits are clearly the highest priority for these companies.

Contrast two massive global conglomerates dumping money into a Maine election with the grassroots support from all over the state for our signature drive to get this issue on the ballot. Mainers are up against two titans of the global energy economy, but we will win. We've seen an invigorating response to our efforts: more than 150 small-dollar Maine donors and more than 350 volunteer signature collectors have stepped up. No matter how much money HQ and CMP spend on this campaign effort, we have what they can't buy - the support of the majority of Mainers.

Sandra Howard is co-leader of the group No CMP Corridor and director, of Say NO to NECEC. She lives in Caratunk and New Hampshire.