A new Maine law will require state utility regulators to focus on lowering consumer energy costs.
“An Act Regarding Energy Fairness” comes at a time when Maine households are struggling with high electric bills.
The measure directs the Maine Public Utilities Commission to consider affordability of electricity for residential customers when setting new electric rates.
The commission also needs to develop an affordability metric to determine the impact of electric bills to the overall energy burden for households.
Regulators will also have to disclose the credit and collection activities of the state’s largest investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities, Central Maine Power and Versant Power.
The law requires a review of electric delivery rates to determine if there are ways to contain consumer costs, reduce bill volatility and improve bill transparency.
Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, who sponsored the law, said it included “common sense, actionable steps” to reduce the state’s high energy cost burden.
The law “strengthens the framework in which decisions are made about our electric system, ensuring that the voices and budgets of Maine households are squarely in the equation,” Carney said in a press release after the Senate voted for the bill earlier this month.
Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill into law Monday.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.