An Act To Streamline Ratemaking for Consumer-owned Water Utilities
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1349
Committee Amendment CA_A_H320 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §6104-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A." to H.P. 950, L.D. 1349, Bill, "An Act To 
Streamline Ratemaking for Consumer-owned Water Utilities" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
. following: 
'Sec. 1. 35-A MRS A §310, sub-§3, 'ITA, as amended by PL 2007, c. 127, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
A. 
Municipal or quasi-municipal corporations that are water utilities within the 
definition of section 102, any provisions in any charter notwithstanding, and that 
elect to proceed pursuant to the terms of section 6104 or 6104-A, unless by the 
express terms of section 6104 or 6104-A the provisions of this section are made 
applicable to those corporations; 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §6104-A is enacted to read: 
§6104-A. Consumer-owned water utilities; streamlined ratemaking 
L Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Large consumer-owned water utility". means a consumer-owned water utility 
with total annual revenues of at least $750,000 during the most recent fiscal year. 
B. "Medium consumer-owned water utility" means a consumer-owned water utility 
with total annual revenues of less than $750,000 and at least $250,000 during the 
most recent fiscal year. 
C. "Small consumer-owned water utility" means a consumer-owned water utility 
with total annual revenues of less than $250,000 during the most recent fiscal year. 
2. 
Application 
of this 
section; 
qualification; 
supporting 
materials. 
Notwithstanding section 310 or section 6104, any consumer-owned water utility that 
meets the requirements of this subsection may elect. to increase rates pursuant to this 
section. To qualify for a rate increase under this section, a consumer-owned water utility 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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14. 
COMMI1TEE AMENDMENT" A " 
to H.P. 950, L.D. 1349 
must have negative net income in the 2 consecutive fiscal years immediately preceding 
the year in which the rate increase is proposed. The consumer-owned water utility must 
file with the commission supporting documentation demonstrating the 2 years of negative 
net income as provided inthis subsection. 
A. A consumer-owned water utility that is required to file balance sheets under 
section 504, shall file copies for the 3 most recent years of the balance sheet together 
with other annual financial information the commission may prescribe to be filed 
pursuant to section 504, subsection 2, including the operating statement or other 
statements showing annual operating income and expenses. 
B. 
A consumer-owned water utility that is excused from filing balance sheets 
pursuant to section 504, subsection 3 shall file copies for the 3 most recent years of 
financial statements from financial audits or reviews of the utility or other 
information documenting the operating income and expenses of the utility considered 
acceptable by the commission. 
The consumer-owned water utility shall file its proposed rate increase, in accordance with 
the limits established in subsection 3, along with a copy of the required documentation 
supporting the proposed rate increase with the commission and the Public Advocate at 
least 30 days prior to the public meeting required under subsection 4. A copy of the 
required documentation supporting the proposed rate increase must be made available to 
customers for examination at the offices of the utility for at least 30 days prior to the 
public meeting. 
The utility shall promptly provide any readily available relevant 
additional material or information requested by a customer, the commission or the Public 
Advocate. 
3. Maximum rate increase. The maximum rate increase that a consumer-owned 
water utility may propose under this section: 
A. Is 2% of current rates if the utility is a large consumer-owned water utility; 
B. Is 3.5% of current rates if the utility is a medium consumer-owned water utility; 
and 
C. Is 5%ofcurrent rates if the utility is a small consumer-owned water utility. 
The c·umulative total of rate increases under this section may not exceed 10% over 5 
years. 
4. Utilities that set rates under this section; public meeting required. Consumer-
owned water utilities that qualify to increase rates under this section may not increase any 
rate, toll or charge without first holding a public meeting at which the Public Advocate 
and any customer may provide comment and may question the officials' present regarding 
the proposed rate increase. 
. 
5. Notice of proposed rate increase and public meeting. The consumer-owned 
water utility shall, at least 14 days prior to the public meeting required under subsection 
4, publish a notice of the proposed rate increase and the meeting, including the date, time, 
place and purpose of the meeting, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area 
encompassed by the consumer-owned water utility and give one notice of the proposed 
rate change and the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting to each of its customers. 
The published and individual notices must include a statement describing the amount of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"~" to H.P.' 950, L.D. 1349 
the rate increase and the percentage change for each customer class, the customer's right 
to request information relating to the present and proposed rates and the availability of 
assistance from the Public Advocate. The published and individual notices must' inform 
customers of the 10-person complaint process under section 1302. Copies of the notice 
must be sent to the commission and the Public Advocate at least 14 days prior to the 
meeting. 
. 
6. Public meeting; vote of governing body; minutes. At the commencement of 
each public meeting held pursuant to this section, the consumer-owned water utility shall 
inform those present of the reason for the rate change. Each public meeting held pursuant 
to this section must include a public comment period. After the public meeting, the 
governing body of the consumer-owned water utility shall hold a meeting to deliberate 
and vote on the proposed rate increase, which may be modified on the basis of the public 
comment received during the public meeting. The consumer-owned water utility shall 
take minutes of the public meeting and the subsequent meeting of the governing body. 
Within 30 days of the public meeting, the consumer-owned water utility shall file with 
the commission and the Public Advocate a copy of the minutes of that meeting, which 
must include a record of the public comment received. Within 30 days of the meeting of 
the governing body of the consumer-owned water utility held under this subsection, the 
consumer-owned water utility shall file with the commission and the Public Advocate a 
copy of the minutes of that meeting, which must include the vote of the governing body, 
along with responses of the governing body to the public comment received. A copy of 
the minutes of each meeting must be made available to customers for examination at the 
offices of the utility. 
7. Filing changed rates. The consumer-owned water utility shall file its changed 
rates with the commission within 30 days of the vote of the governing body of the 
consumer-owned water utility under su bsection 6, but not sooner than 10 days following 
the vote. 
8. Effective date established for rate change. Subject to the notice and waiver 
requirements of section 307, consumer-owned water utilities electing to set rates under 
this section may establish an effective date for a rate change of at least one month, but not 
more than 9 months, from the date the rates are filed with the commission under 
subsection 7. 
9. Review of rates under section 310. Nothing in this section prohibits a consumer-
owned water utility from petitioning the commission for review pursuant to section 3 ],0 
or filing a rate change pursuant to section 6104 in the first instance. 
10. 
Correction of errors. Upon review of a rate filing made pursuant to this 
section, the commission may order the consumer-owned water utility to correct 
mathematical or clerical errors.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment allows a consumer-owned water 
utility that has negative net income in 2 consecutive fiscal years to file for a limited rate 
increase under a streamlined process. The rate increase that a consumer-owned water 
utility may propose is limited to 2%, 3.5% or 5% of current rates depending on the size of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 950, L.D. 1349 
the utility as measured by annual revenues, and the cumulative total of rate increases over 
years is limited to 10%. Under the streamlined process, a consumer-owned water utility 
is required to hold a public meeting regarding the proposed rate increase and provide a 
public comment period at that meeting. After the public meeting, the governing body of 
the consumer-owned water utility is required to hold a meeting to deliberate and vote on 
the proposed rate increase. The consumer-owned water utility is required to record and 
file with the Public Utilities Commission minutes of the public meeting and the meeting 
of the governing body, which must include a record of the public comment, the vote of 
the governing body and responses of the governing body to the public comment received. 
The amendment requires the utility to file its changed rates with the commission within 
days of the vote of the gov~rn ing body and not sooner than 10 days following the vote. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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Approved: 05115/09 ;?;pac:.. 
LD 1349 
LR 1555(02) 
An Act To Streamline Ratemaking for Consumer-owned Water Utilities 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" 
Committee: Utilities and Energy 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The additional costs to the Public Utilities Commission in assisting with the ratemaking for consumer-owned water 
utilities can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LRI555(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1