An Act To O Increase the Safety of Municipal Residents by Allowing Municipalities To Address Downed Wires in Extended Power Outages
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0372
Committee Amendment CA_A_H171 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3144

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'Yf " to H.P. 281, L.D. 372, Bill, "An Act To 
O 
Increase the Safety of Municipal Residents by Allowing Municipalities To Address 
Downed Wires in Extended Power Outages" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Increase the Safety of Maine Residents in Extended Power Outages' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3144 is enacted to read: 
§3144. Emergency response plans 
The commission, by rule or order, shall require each investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utility to establish an emergency response plan for recovery and restoration in 
response to an emergency in accordance with this s(Jction. The plan must be base{! on the 
United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management 
Agency's National Incident Management System publication, issued on October 17, 2017, 
or an updated version published subsequent to that date. For the purposes of this section, 
"emergency" means an event in which widespread outages have occurred in the service 
territory of the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility due to weather events 
or other causes beyond the control of the utility. 
1. Pl'iorities. The prioritization process under the emergency response plan required 
by this section must follow the statewide comprehensive emergency management plan 
under Title 37-B, chapter 13 in coordination with the Department of Defense, Veterans 
and Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency, as established in 
Title 37-B, section 701, and county emergency management agencies and must include 
consideration of steps to ensure the safety of electric facilities, road opening and service 
restoration. Priorities for service restoration must consider facilities critical to protection 
of life, health and safety. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~ .• s. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 281, L.D. 372 
2. Plan requirements. The emergency response plan required by this section must 
detail a coordinated approach to providing an effective and efficient emergency response. 
The plan must include, but is not limited to: 
A. 
Priorities for emergency response and service restoration, consistent with 
subsection 1; 
B. 
Provisions for internal and external staffing, including identification of 
management staff roles and responsibilities and identification of field employee roles 
and responsibilities, for utility operations during an emergency, for ensuring 
sufficient local knowledge of the system and for implementation of the emergency 
response plan, including a process for acquiring additional external resources 
required to address the emergency: 
C. Provisions for communication and coordination with the Department of Defense, 
Veterans and Emergency Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency, as 
established in Title 37-B, section 701, and relevant municipal, interjurisdictional, 
county and regional emergency management agencies, as described in Title 37-B, 
section 781, during an emergency, including designation of staff responsible for these 
efforts. These provisions must address, but are not limited to, communication and 
coordination concerning emergency conditions, road opening and service restoration: 
D. 
Systems for customer communications during an emergency, including the 
provision for information regarding estimated time of service restoration: 
E. 
Procedures for deplovment of internal and external resources during an 
emergency, including field employees, supplies and equipment needed; and 
F. Provisions to ensure the safety of the employees and external contractors engaged 
in emergency response efforts. 
3. Filing of plan; commission review; public records exception. An investor-
owned transmission and distribution utility shall submit to the commission, no later than 
May 15th of each even-numbered year, the emergency response plan required by this 
section. The commission shall review the emergency response plan for compliance with 
this section and rules adopted or orders issued pursuant to this section. If, based on its 
review, the commission finds that a utility's emergency response plan does not comply 
with this section and rules adopted or orders issued pursuant to this section, the 
commission shall direct the utility to amend and resubmit the plan. An investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility shall provide a copy of the emergency response plan 
and any amendments to the plan to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency 
Management, Maine Emergency Management Agency. The Maine Emergency 
Management Agency shall provide a copy of the plan to each county emergency 
management agency. In accordance with section 1311-A, the commission may designate 
portions of the emergency response plan as confidential through issuance of a protective 
order. 
4. Emergency response performance review. After an emergency, the commission 
may open an investigation to review the emergency response performance of an investor-
owned transmission and distribution utility. If, after investigation, the commission finds 
that the utility failed to implement its emergency response plan in a prudent manner, the 
commission shall take any action the commission determines appropriate under this Title 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Ft 111. 
I 
II 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 281, L,D, 372 
to remedy that failure, including but not limited to denying the recovery through rates of 
all, or any part of, the emergency response and service restoration costs. 
5, Annual report to Legislature. The commission shall include in its annual report 
pursuant to section 120, subsection 7 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over public utilities matters inf01mation regarding the activities 
conducted by the commission pursuant to this section and the performance of investor-
owned h·ansmission and distribution utilities in meeting the requirements of this section.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment establishes requirements for an 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility to establish emergency response 
plans for recovery and restoration in response to an event where widespread outages have 
occurred due to weather events or other causes beyond the utility's control. It requires 
that the prioritization process under the plan follow the statewide comprehensive 
emergency management plan and include consideration of steps to ensure safety of 
electric facilities, road opening and service restoration. The amendment requires the plan 
to detail a coordinated approach that includes: priorities for emergency response and 
service restoration, staffing, communication and coordination with emergency 
management agencies, customer communications, resource deployment and safety. 
The amendment requires each investor-owned transmission and distribution utility to 
file the plan with the Public Utilities Commission on a biannual basis and to provide a 
copy of the plan to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, 
Maine Emergency Management Agency. The amendment allows the commission to 
designate portions of the emergency response plan as confidential through the issuance of 
a protective order. 
The amendment also authorizes the commission to open an investigation to review 
the emergency response performance of an investor-owned h·ansmission and distribution 
utility after an emergency event. If the commission, through investigation, finds that the 
utility failed to implement its emergency response plan in a prudent manner, the 
commission is required to take action to remedy the failure, which may include denying 
the recovery through rates of the costs of emergency response and service restoration. 
Finally, the amendment requires the commission to include in its annual report to the 
Legislature information regarding its activities and the performance of investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utilities in relation to emergency response plans. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 04/16/19 feae 
LD372 
LR 78(02) 
An Act To Increase the Safety of Municipal Residents by Allowing Municipalities To Address Downed 
Wires in Extended Power Outages 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 7'1" ( H-/ 7 /) 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management or the Public Utilities 
Commission associated with this legislation can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0078(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1