The Maine Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing on Thursday in Presque Isle to get input on Emera Maine’s plan to raise one portion of customers’ power bills by about 10 percent.
The hearing will give members of the public the opportunity to provide sworn testimony or comments on the case. Only sworn testimony can become evidence in the case, according to the PUC.
The hearing follows Emera’s request to raise the distribution portion of its bills by about 10 percent next year, which would bring in about $8 million more to cover investments in the company’s distribution systems.
The increase would raise the average customer’s bill by about $2.40 per month, based on monthly usage of about 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The utility has about 159,000 customers.
The utility’s new Hampden operations facility, a new Acadia substation and a new customer information system all contributed to the increase. Parties in the case have disputed whether the company should be allowed to recover all of the costs of its new customer information system and the Acadia substation.
The PUC hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Folsom Hall, Room 105. The university building is located at 181 Main St. in Presque Isle.