Mainers served by Central Maine Power (CMP) can expect to see their electric bills go up next month by an average of nearly $5.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) announced this past Friday that it approved a 3.3 percent overall rate increase for CMP customers.
For households using an average of 550 kilowatt-hours per month this would translate to an increase from $149.76 to $154.67.
All CMP customers — including both those who source their electricity from competitive providers and those who accept the default, standard offer — will see a 5.3 percent increase in the transmission and distribution portion of their bill.
According to Commission Chair Philip L. Bartlett II, these rising rates are primarily a result of expenses related to recent storm recovery costs.
“These rate changes reflect our statutory obligations and are primarily driven by costs that have already been incurred or approved, including those that support the states energy and climate policy goals,” Chair Bartlett said in a statement.
This rate increases are expected to raise an additional $71 million in revenue for CMP, according to filings with the Commission.
The Maine PUC explains in their press release that costs associated with Tier 3 storms exceeding $15 million will be recovered over a two year period instead of one in order to mitigate rate impacts.
CMP spokesperson Dustin Wlodkowski told the Portland Press Herald that the recent uptick in severe storms has been “historic in scale.”
“We had to go into places like Fairfield and basically rebuild the grid street by street,” Wlodkowski said, adding that the long term costs incurred from such undertakings are still must be taken into account in the utility’s calculations.
The majority of CMP’s other stranded costs were said to be “incurred due to legislation enacted to support Maine’s climate and clean energy initiatives,” including “expenses associated with renewable energy contracts and Net Energy Billing.”
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Adjustments to the Efficiency Maine Trust assessment rates and changes to the transmission service rates — which are set by the regional transmission operator and reviewed through federal regulatory processes — also contributed to the “total bill impact.”
CMP most recently increased its rates in January of this year, representing the final increase outlined in a 2023 compromise that allowed the utility incrementally raise prices over the course of two years for a total increase of $5 per month on average.
Taken together, reports indicate that CMP customers will be paying about $15 more per month for electricity this July than they were in August of last year.
CMP serves about 636,000 households throughout central and southern Maine.
