HALLOWELL, Maine — Mainers will begin to see changes to their electric bills starting this month. Because several changes are taking effect at once, the Maine Public Utilities Commission held a meeting Thursday to break it down.
Chair of the Commission Philip Bartlett said there are three areas of your bill that will be affected.
First, the distribution rates. Those are the costs it takes to bring electricity from poles, wires, and transformers to your home or business.
Customers of both Central Maine Power and Versant will see a slight increase in their bills in that area. It will take place in phases.
CMP will phase its distribution rate increases four times over two years. All the additions, beginning this month and ending January 2025, will equate to roughly 1% of your total bill, or $1 per month.
Versant is splitting its distribution rate increase into two phases, one taking effect this month, and the second in January. Each increase totals roughly 4% of your bill or a $5 increase in each phase.
Versant customers in the Bangor-Hydro district will see slightly less increase compared to customers in the Maine Public District.
Those two rate increases were proposed by CMP and Versant and negotiated with the PUC and other groups.
Bartlett said this area of your bill is where the PUC has the most control over rate changes. He added the extra funds will go to the power company's upgrade plans to replace and modernize infrastructure.
“One of the big investments we’re making is in grid automation," CMP Spokesperson Jon Breed said last month.
Judy Long, a spokesperson for Versant Power, said the distribution rate increase will allow the company to make its own upgrades. Bartlett added Versant also plans to install a new metering system.
But the two power companies will be held accountable by the commission as they effort to make those promised upgrades.
“We felt strongly that the utilities should back up their claims of improved reliability and improved service from the investments that they were making," Bartlett said.
He added if the companies don't hit their monthly marks, then ratepayers will essentially get a "refund" back of some of the money.
The driving force of these overall rate changes is the increase in stranded costs. According to the commission, those are "the primary costs and benefits related to long-term contracts for electricity generation and Net Energy Billing Programs created by the Legislature to facilitate the transition of renewable power."
CMP and Versant do not profit through these state programs.
The Net Energy Billing Program was enacted by the Legislature in 2019. It allows customers to offset their electric bills by using renewable energy generators. There are two sides to the program, community use, and commercial use.
CMP customers will see a roughly $9 per month bill increase because of these stranded costs. Versant Bangor-Hydro customers will see a near $13 increase, while Maine Public customers will see a near $8 increase.
The good news, Bartlett said, is CMP and Bangor-Hydro customers will see a $5-per-month decrease when it comes to the supply cost area of their bills.
Maine Public District customers will not see that decrease as they are not connected to the New England power grid.
The cost of natural gas is going down, which allows for this decrease. The reduction will be in effect until the end of the year when the commission will set a new rate for January 2024.
In total, the commission said CMP customers can expect a 3.2% bill increase, a 9.3% increase for Bangor-Hydro customers, and Maine Public customers can expect an 11.1% bill increase.
If you have any questions or payment issues due to these increases, you can contact your utility company or the commission.