PORTLAND, Maine — Starting on Jan. 1, the standard rate for electric prices will go up about 42 percent, or 17 cents per kilowatt hour, close to the same as last year.
Phil Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said about half of the electricity generated in New England is from power plants using natural gas.
When the cost of natural gas goes up, so does the cost to make electricity. That's reflected on the "supply" portion of your electric bill.
In the last decade, the price per kilowatt hour has been between 14 to 17 cents, but it hasn't always been this high.
"If you even just go back a couple of years, we had very low electric prices," Bartlett said.
According to the PUC, between 2008 and 2012, prices were between 7 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour, and natural gas was also down during that same period.
Utility companies like CMP and Versant have no control over that half of your bill; they just collect the money. But they do control the "distribution" half of the bill, which pays for the actual infrastructure and the people who maintain it.
Anytime either company wants to increase their rates like they have this year, they have to request it from the PUC.
"That's currently under review and prices will not change until the PUC has reviewed the case," Judy Long of Versant Power said.
If approved, the distribution rates won't increase until sometime next summer.
If you are having a hard time paying your electric bill, you can visit the Consumer Assistance Program at the Maine PUC.