Not many people feel capable of dealing with the bureaucracy of government and corporations. Lynne Norris of Newcastle had a smile of victory on her face Saturday for having navigated both systems and solved a problem for herself and possibly many others.

In the fall of 2017 she was notified that, due to her low income status, she need not pay her current Central Maine Power bill. Sometime later, she was told she did not qualify for the exception.

“They said they had made a mistake,” said Norris in an interview Sept. 1.

The correction did not upset Norris because she was able to pay her bill which averaged about $45.

In January, Norris failed to get any CMP bill. At the time she did not see a problem. When a few months later she brought up the lack of a bill with CMP, she was told just to pay what she usually owed.

“I started sending $50. I did it faithfully,” said Norris.

The problem did not come up until later this summer when Norris had to reapply for fuel subsidies through Maine State Housing Authority’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Part of the requirement was to supply a current electric bill to the local LIHEAP office in Wiscasset. Norris was told the electric bill was necessary.

“I can’t pay my fuel bill without help,” she said.

Norris set out calling everyone who could help correct her problem including the Maine Public Utilities Commission and her state representative, Michael Devin.

“I called everybody,” she said.

Norris understood that the problem impacted everybody needing fuel assistance and lacking a CMP bill. It could also be an issue for the oil companies that would not get reimbursements from the LIHEAP program until the problem was resolved.

“They (the oil companies) would not find out until the middle of winter,” said Norris.

“If somebody had not spoken up there would have been a terrible jam-up. Nobody would know what to do. The whole system could have collapsed,” she said.

Norris is not sure which of her calls made the difference but on Aug. 6 she received a packet from CMP with a stack of her old and current bills.

“They did it all by hand,” she said.

Norris wants to thank CMP workers for acting as quickly as they did.

She also gained encouragement that one person can make democracy work.

“Somebody had to do it. I guess it was me,” she said.