An Act to Reduce Electricity Rates by Removing Limitations on the
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1358
Sponsors: FAULKINGHAM, STEWART
Amends: 35-A MRSA §3204

Legislative Document
No. 1358
H.P. 881
House of Representatives, April 1, 2025
An Act to Reduce Electricity Rates by Removing Limitations on the 
Ownership of Generation by an Affiliate of an Investor-owned 
Transmission and Distribution Utility
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 28, 2025.  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 FAULKINGHAM of Winter Harbor.
Cosponsored by Senator STEWART of Aroostook and
Representatives: FOSTER of Dexter, MCINTYRE of Lowell, SMITH of Palermo, Senator: 
HARRINGTON of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3204, sub-§11, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 287, §1, is amended 
to read:
11.  Affiliated generation outside service territory permitted.  Notwithstanding 
subsection 5, an affiliate of an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may 
own generation or generation-related assets in accordance with standards of conduct 
adopted under this subsection as long as the generation or generation-related assets are not 
directly interconnected to the facilities owned or operated by that investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility. The commission shall establish, by rule, standards of 
conduct governing the relationships permitted under this section between an investor-
owned transmission and distribution utility and an affiliate of the investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility that owns generation or generation-related assets that:
A.  Prohibit a transmission and distribution utility from taking any action that favors 
such an affiliate or adversely affects a competitor of such an affiliate in a manner that 
is unjust or unreasonable;
B.  Ensure the separation and independence of such affiliates; and
C.  Protect ratepayers.
For purposes of this subsection, "affiliate" means a person who has any direct or indirect 
ownership interest in, or is a direct or indirect subsidiary of a person who has any ownership 
interest in, the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility, but does not include a 
wholly owned or partially owned direct or indirect subsidiary of the investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utility.
Any affiliate generation or generation-related assets permitted under this subsection that 
do not have a commission-approved long-term contract or term sheet under this Title as of 
July 1, 2017 are ineligible to participate in a long-term contract under this Title.
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
SUMMARY
This bill permits an affiliate of an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility 
to own generation or generation-related assets in accordance with standards of conduct 
adopted by the Public Utilities Commission including when the generation or generation-
related assets are directly interconnected to the facilities owned or operated by that 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility. The bill also removes the prohibition 
on affiliate generation or generation-related assets participating in long-term contracts 
under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A.