It may not be about sex, but a bill just signed by Gov. John Baldacci is certainly all about power and money.

Power of the sort that courses through overhead transmission lines and into Maine's homes, businesses, factories and mills. Money of the sort that flies in ever-increasing amounts from those homes, businesses, factories and mills and back to the suppliers of that power.

The bill Baldacci signed moves the state one step closer to withdrawing from ISO-New England, which operates the six-state regional power grid and is a prime driver of Maine's excessive electricity costs. That's a move the state has been rumbling about for years, as ISO charges Maine more and more money for improvements to the grid that will not actually benefit the state.

Earlier this year, the state's Public Utilities Commission delivered a report to the Legislature that concluded that the current structure of Maine's electricity system, in which the state consumes less power than it exports, is unfair to Maine consumers. Simply put, we pay for ISO to provide services that we don't get. And when we have complained to ISO in the past about the situation, their indifferent and unresponsive board of directors has simply chosen to ignore Maine's complaints.

There are other options: Maine can run its own electricity system, or it can join with the New Brunswick system. Either choice offers the state more chance of controlling -- if not reducing -- electricity costs. The bill just signed by Baldacci directs the state Public Utilities Commission to determine whether ending Maine's membership in ISO is in the state's best interest.

If it is, the PUC would then order the state's three power transmission and distribution utilities to come up with an alternative structure.

That's a big step, but given the currently unsatisfactory state of affairs, it may be the only appropriate one.