KENNEBUNK – Central Maine Power has all but rejected an attempt by local residents to have the utility sell a small portion of its service area to the Kennebunk Light & Power District.

Kennebunk activists pressing for such a sale now plan to take their case to the Legislature.

Citizens for Electrical Equity in Kennebunk said a change in ownership would bring lower-cost power and speedier service to 1,400 CMP customers near the town’s Lower Village area. Most of those accounts are residential.

The group proposed a purchase price of slightly more than $1 million, which CMP said was unrealistically low.

“If anyone can do [this] and force the Legislature to sell to them, it’s a real slippery slope. It’s not in the best interest of ratepayers,” said David Allen, CMP’s government affairs liaison.

At a Jan. 9 meeting, CMP told Citizens for Electrical Equity that it would pass the proposal along to the utility’s parent, Energy East, with a recommendation that it be turned down.

Robert Ender, co-chairman of the citizens’ group, said the meeting produced no surprises, and that a legislative solution will be sought.

Kennebunk Light & Power was founded in 1893 to provide street lighting to the entire town, Ender said. But another utility, Kennebunk Electric Light Co., was formed a few years later and built a small plant in Lower Village that served part of Kennebunk. That enterprise eventually became part of CMP.

Rep. Thomas Murphy, R-Kennebunk, said he intends to co-sponsor a private bill by Sen. Lloyd LaFountain III, D-Biddeford, that would pave the way for a sale. A similar bill last year went by the wayside.

Murphy, who lives in the KL&P area, said he enjoys low rates and quick emergency service. Neighbors a half mile away, who are served by CMP, pay nearly twice as much, he said.

KL&P, which serves 5,000 customers, buys its energy from Exelon (formerly Philadelphia Electric Co.) and is halfway through a three-year contract. The company uses CMP transmission lines to receive its power, KL&P General Manager Sharon A. Statz said, and pays CMP for the use of its lines.