The Maine Public Utilities Commission has denied a request to impose rare temporary electric rates on Central Maine Power customers amid a contentious debate over the company’s proposal to raise prices long-term.
The commission’s chair, Phil Bartlett, said in a meeting Tuesday that parties to CMP’s rate case could not reach an “undisputed” amount the company should be allowed to raise in the short term.
“To grant a request for temporary rates, there needs to be a clear amount that is not in dispute. In my view, that is not the case here,” Bartlett said.
CMP asked to increase its distribution prices to raise about $69 million while the commission and other parties negotiated long-term rates for the company. The proposal would have added about $7 a month to the average residential power bill, according to the utility.
Without that additional cash flow, CMP may have to delay hiring, put off important infrastructure spending and reconsider its workforce levels, according to the company.
But Bartlett noted that some of CMP’s own spending decisions contributed to its current financial straits.
“The capital spend between 2022 and 2025 significantly exceeded the forecast, by over 50%. So, to some extent, this is a problem of CMP’s own making,” Bartlett said.
A CMP spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
In a filing last week, CMP said that the funding it requested would pay for much-needed projects to improve reliable electric service, prepare for stronger and more destructive storms and boost its skilled workforce.
“Customers do not experience regulatory delay in the abstract. They experience it through aging transformers, deferred maintenance, postponed reliability projects, and infrastructure that continues operating long after it should have been replaced,” the company said.
The temporary rate issue is part of a bigger rate case for CMP still being negotiated through the utilities commission. The utility is asking to increase distribution prices to raise about $189 million. Opponents and critics are pushing to lower that amount, with a focus on how much profit the utility should be allowed to earn from its infrastructure investments.
The debate is unfolding as Mainers deal with high prices for energy, housing and other daily needs.
“CMP is trying to squeeze blood from a stone,” Seth Berry, a spokesperson for Fight the Hike, a coalition of consumer groups, said in a press release.
“Unlike any other business, CMP has a monopoly. This is a privilege granted to them by the state. It’s time for CMP shareholders to fund maintenance from their $160 million in annual profits— not squeeze still more from Maine families,” Berry added.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.