An Act To Ensure Equity in Funding
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0868
Committee: Utilities and Energy
Sponsors: BLISS, BARTLETT
Amends: 35-A MRSA §116

Legislative Document 
No. 868 
H.P.619 
House of Representatives, February 16,2005 
An Act To Ensure Equity in Funding 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reference to the Committee on Utilities and Energy suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative BLISS of South Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator BARTLETT of Cumberland and 
Representati ve: FLETCHER of Winslow. 
Printed on recycled paper 
'I1'l~ 1/1. 7TldC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted 
as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the Public Utilities Commission 
and 
the Public 
Advocate rely on assessments for their annual budgets; and 
Whereas, this legislation affects the levels of income from 
specific sources; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts 
create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of 
Maine 
and 
require 
the 
following 
legislation 
as 
immediately 
necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and 
safety; now, therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §116, sub-§I, as amended by PL 2003, c. 272, 
§l, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Utilities subject to assessments. 
Every transmission 
and distribution, gas, 
telephone and water utility and ferry 
subject 
to 
regulation 
by 
the 
commission 
is 
subject 
to 
an 
assessment on its intrastate gross operating revenues to produce 
no more than $5,505,000 in revenues annually. 
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The commission shall develop a method of 
accounting 
for 
the 
time 
spent 
by 
the 
commission 
and 
its 
professional 
and 
support 
staff 
on 
issues 
related 
to 
the 
categories of public utilities as 
described in section 102, 
subsection 13. 
The commission shall determine the assessments 
for 
each 
category of utility based 
on 
the 
results 
of that 
accounting. 
Within each utility category, 
assessments on the 
utilities in that category must be based on gross intrastate 
operating 
revenues. 
The 
commission 
shall 
determine 
the 
assessments annually prior to May 1st and assess each utility for 
its 
pro 
rata share 
for 
expenditure 
during 
the 
fiscal 
year 
beginning July 1st. 
Each utility shall 
pay 
the 
assessment 
charged to the utility on or before July 1st of each year. 
Any 
increase in the assessment that becomes effective subsequent to 
May 
1st 
may 
be 
billed 
on 
the 
effective 
date 
of 
the 
act 
authorizing the increase. 
A. 
The assessments charged to utilities under this section 
are 
just and 
reasonable operating costs 
for 
rate-making 
purposes. 
Page l-LR0989 (1) 
B. 
For the purposes of this section, 
"intrastate gross 
operating revenues" means intrastate revenues derived from 
filed rates, except revenues derived from sales for resale. 
C. 
Gas 
utilities 
subject 
to 
the 
jurisdiction 
of 
the 
commission solely with respect to safety are not subject to 
any assessment. 
D. 
The commission may correct any errors in the assessments 
by means 
of 
a 
credit or debit to the 
following year's 
assessment 
rather 
than reassessing all utilities in the 
current year. 
E. 
The 
commission 
may 
exempt 
utilities 
intrastate 
gross 
operating 
revenues 
under 
assessments under this section. 
with 
annual 
$50,000 
from 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §116. sub-§8. as amended by PL 2003, c. 272, 
§2 and c. 505, §12, is further amended to read: 
8. 
Public Advocate assessment. 
Every utility subject to 
assessment under this section is subject to an additional annual 
assessment on its intrastate gross operating revenues to produce 
sufficient revenue for expenditures allocated by the Legislature 
for operating the Office of Public Advocate. 
This additional 
assessment is calculated in the same manner as assessments made 
by 
the 
commission 
pursuant 
to 
subsection 
1. 
The 
revenues 
produced 
from 
this 
assessment 
are 
transferred to 
the Public 
Advocate Regulatory Fund and may only be used to fulfill the 
duties 
specified in chapter 
17. 
The 
assessments 
charged to 
utilities 
under 
this 
subsection 
are 
considered 
just 
and 
reasonable operating costs for rate-making purposes. 
The Public 
Advocate shall develop a 
method of accounting for staff time 
within the Office of Public Advocate. 
All professional 
and 
support staff shall account for their time in such a way as to 
identify 
the 
percentage 
of 
time 
devoted 
to 
public 
utility 
regulation and the percentage of time devoted to other duties 
that may be required by law. 
A. 
The 
Public 
Advocate 
shall 
submit 
its 
budget 
recommendations 
as part of the unified current services 
budget legislation in accordance with Title 5, sections 1663 
to 1665. 
The assessments and expenditures provided in this 
section are subject to legislative approval. 
The Public 
Advocate 
shall 
make 
an 
annual 
report 
of 
its 
planned 
expenditures for the year and on its use of funds in the 
previous year. 
The Public Advocate may also receive other 
funds as appropriated by the Legislature. 
B. 
The Public Advocate may use the revenues provided ln 
accordance with this section to fund the Public Advocate and 
employees and to defray the costs incurred by the Public 
Advocate pursuant to this Title, including administrative 
expenses, general expenses, consulting fees and all other 
reasonable costs incurred to administer this Title. 
C-l. 
Except as specified in this subsection, funds that are 
not expended at the end of a fiscal year do not lapse but 
must be carried forward to be expended for the purposes 
specified in this section in succeeding fiscal years; but, 
with the exception of funds carried forward from fiscal year 
2002-03 and fiscal year 2003-04 for use in the following 
fiscal year, unexpended funds in excess of 10% of the total 
annual assessment authorized in this section must, at the 
option of the Public Advocate, 
ei~Re~ be either presented to 
the 
Legislature 
in 
accordance 
with 
paragraph 
A 
for 
reallocation and expenditure or used to reduce the utility 
assessment in the following fiscal year. 
In the case of 
funds carried forward from fiscal year 2002-03 and fiscal 
year 2003-04 for use in the following fiscal year, 100'1-0 of 
t;hese funds may be expended for the purposes specified in 
this section. 
Sec. 3. Public Utilities Commission study. 
Beginning on 
the 
effective date of this Act, the Public Utilities Commission shall 
account for 
the 
time 
spent by the 
commission 
and all other 
professional 
and 
support 
staff 
on 
energy 
supply 
issues, 
including, but not limited to, regional supply issues, standard 
offer proceedings and oversight of competitive energy providers, 
and report the accounting results to the Joint Standing Committee 
on Utilities 
and 
Energy 
no 
later than March 
1, 
2006. 
The 
committee is authorized to report out a bill based on the results 
of this study. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the 
preamble, this Act takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
requires 
the 
Public 
Utilities 
Commission 
to 
develop 
a 
method 
of 
accounting 
for 
the 
time 
spent 
by 
the 
commission 
and its professional 
and 
support staff on energy 
supply issues and report the accounting results by March 1, 2006 
to the Joint Standing Committee on Utili ties and Energy. 
The 
bill also requires annual assessments for the operation of the 
Office of Public Advocate to be calculated in the same manner as 
assessments made by the Public Utilities Commission.