An Act Regarding Utility-related Fees
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1881
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology
Sponsors: BERRY, LIBBY, CAIAZZO, CUDDY, DOUDERA, EVANGELOS, PLUECKER, RILEY, RYKERSON, WOODSOME
Amends: 35-A MRSA §120, 35-A MRSA §1702

Legislative Document
No. 1881
H.P. 1347
House of Representatives, December 24, 2019
An Act Regarding Utility-related Fees
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 20, 2019.  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 BERRY of Bowdoinham.
Cosponsored by Senator LIBBY of Androscoggin and
Representatives: CAIAZZO of Scarborough, CUDDY of Winterport, DOUDERA of Camden, 
EVANGELOS of Friendship, PLUECKER of Warren, RILEY of Jay, RYKERSON of Kittery, 
Senator: WOODSOME of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §120, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Utility-related fees and penalties.  Any utility-related fees and penalties paid 
by a public utility in the previous year that have not been adjusted in the previous 5 years.  
The commission shall submit to the committee legislation to adjust each such utility-
related fee or penalty paid by a public utility that is set in statute and rule based on the 
Consumer Price Index;
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §120, sub-§2-B is enacted to read:
2-B.  Expenses.  Beginning in 2021, the commission's expenses relating to all 
consumer-owned public utilities and expenses relating to all investor-owned public 
utilities in the previous year and a determination of the average regulatory cost per 
customer per year for all consumer-owned public utilities and all investor-owned public 
utilities in each utility industry.
Whenever the average regulatory cost per customer per year in a utility industry under 
this subsection for all consumer-owned public utilities exceeds the average regulatory 
cost per customer per year for all investor-owned public utilities by more than 50%, the 
commission shall amend its rules or introduce legislation to address the discrepancy in a 
manner that minimizes the shift of regulatory costs from customers of consumer-owned 
public utilities to customers of investor-owned public utilities.
Whenever the average regulatory cost per customer per year in a utility industry under 
this subsection for all investor-owned public utilities exceeds the average regulatory cost 
per customer per year for all consumer-owned public utilities by more than 50%, the 
commission shall amend its rules or introduce legislation to address the discrepancy in a 
manner that minimizes the shift of regulatory costs from customers of investor-owned 
public utilities to customers of consumer-owned public utilities;
Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §1702, sub-§6, ¶A is enacted to read:
A.  Beginning in 2021, the Public Advocate shall include in the annual report a 
review of the Public Advocate's expenses relating to all consumer-owned public 
utilities and expenses relating to all investor-owned public utilities over the past 
report year and determine the average regulatory cost per customer per report year for 
all consumer-owned public utilities and all investor-owned public utilities in each 
utility industry.
Sec. 4.  35-A MRSA §1702, sub-§6, ¶B is enacted to read:
B.  Whenever the average regulatory cost per customer per report year in a utility 
industry under paragraph A for all consumer-owned public utilities exceeds the 
average regulatory cost per customer per report year for all investor-owned public 
utilities by more than 50%, the Public Advocate shall amend its rules or introduce 
legislation to address the discrepancy in a manner that minimizes the shift of 
regulatory costs from customers of consumer-owned public utilities to customers of 
investor-owned public utilities.
Sec. 5.  35-A MRSA §1702, sub-§6, ¶C is enacted to read:
C.  Whenever the average regulatory cost per customer per report year in a utility 
industry under paragraph A for all investor-owned public utilities exceeds the average 
regulatory cost per customer per report year for all consumer-owned public utilities 
by more than 50%, the Public Advocate shall amend its rules or introduce legislation 
to address the discrepancy in a manner that minimizes the shift of regulatory costs 
from customers of investor-owned public utilities to customers of consumer-owned 
public utilities.
Sec. 6.  Fee and penalty revision.  The Public Utilities Commission shall submit 
legislation to the First Regular Session of the 130th Legislature to adjust all fees and 
penalties paid by public utilities, as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, 
section 102, subsection 13, based on the actuarially compounded Consumer Price Index 
for each fee or penalty since enactment, rounding to the nearest multiple of $100 if the 
fee or penalty is below $10,000 and to the nearest multiple of $1,000 if the fee or penalty 
is $10,000 or greater.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to report annually to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public utilities matters on 
any utility-related fees and penalties that have not been adjusted in the previous 5 years 
and to submit legislation to adjust each utility-related fee or penalty based on the 
Consumer Price Index.  The commission is also required to submit legislation to the First 
Regular Session of the 130th Legislature to adjust all fees and penalties paid by public 
utilities based on the actuarially compounded Consumer Price Index for each fee or 
penalty since enactment.
The bill also requires the commission and the Public Advocate, beginning in 2021, to 
annually review their expenses relating to all consumer-owned public utilities and 
expenses relating to all investor-owned public utilities over the past year, determine the 
average regulatory cost per customer per year for all consumer-owned public utilities and 
all investor-owned public utilities in each utility industry and amend their rules or 
introduce legislation to address a significant discrepancy in the average regulatory costs.