An Act To Clarify Laws Relating to Affiliate Ownership of Electric Generation
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1513
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: DION, WOODSOME, BEAVERS
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3204

Legislative Document 
No. 1513 
H.P. 1036 
House of Representatives, December 28, 2015 
An Act To Clarify Laws Relating to Affiliate Ownership of Electric 
Generation 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 22, 2015.  Referred to the Committee on 
Energy, Utilities and Technology pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DION of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator WOODSOME of York and 
Representative: BEAVERS of South Berwick. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3204, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 316, §3, is 
amended to read: 
5.  Ownership of generation prohibited.  Except as otherwise permitted under this 
chapter, on or after March 1, 2000, an investor-owned transmission and distribution 
utility may not own, have a financial interest in or otherwise control generation or 
generation-related assets. directly or indirectly, including through an affiliated interest: 
A.  Have an ownership interest in generation or generation-related assets; 
B.  Have a financial interest in generation or generation-related assets; or 
C.  Control generation or generation-related assets. 
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3204, sub-§6-A is enacted to read: 
6-A.  Affiliate ownership of generation or generation-related assets.  The 
commission by rule may allow an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility to 
have a generation affiliate as long as the investor-owned transmission and distribution 
utility does not have a financial interest in the generation affiliate sufficient to produce 
incentives for favoritism that would undermine the purposes of this chapter. The rules 
adopted by the commission must establish minimum standards necessary to protect 
ratepayers and standards of conduct governing the relationship between an investor-
owned transmission and distribution utility and a generation affiliate. Standards of 
conduct adopted by the commission must ensure at a minimum that: 
A.  A generation affiliate is not given preference over nonaffiliated competitive 
generators; 
B.  Employees of an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may not be 
shared with and must be physically separated from those of a generation affiliate; 
C.  The books of accounts and records of an investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility and a generation affiliate must be separate and are subject to 
review by the commission; and 
D.  An investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may not subsidize the 
business of a generation affiliate at the expense of ratepayers. 
For the purposes of this subsection, "generation affiliate" means an affiliate of an 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility that owns or controls generation or 
generation-related assets. 
Rules adopted under this subsection are major substantive rules pursuant to Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill clarifies language regarding ownership interest, financial interest or control 
of generation or generation-related assets by an investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility. 
This bill also allows the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules to allow an 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility to have an interest in a generation 
affiliate as long as that interest is not a financial interest sufficient to produce incentives 
for favoritism that would undermine the purposes of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
35-A, chapter 32. This bill allows the commission to adopt major substantive rules that 
establish minimum standards necessary to protect ratepayers and standards of conduct 
that govern the relationship between an investor-owned transmission and distribution 
utility and a generation affiliate. This bill requires that standards of conduct adopted by 
commission rule ensure at a minimum that a generation affiliate is not given preference 
over nonaffiliated competitive generators; employees of an investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utility are physically separated from and not shared with those of a 
generation affiliate; the books of accounts and records of an investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utility and a generation affiliate are separate and are subject to review by 
the commission; and an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility does not 
subsidize the business of a generation affiliate at the expense of the ratepayer. 
This bill defines "generation affiliate" as an affiliate of an investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility that owns or controls generation or generation-related 
assets.