Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 65 - WATER MAIN EXTENSION AND SERVICE LINE RULE › Section 407-65-5 - INVESTMENT REDUCED OR NOT REQUIRED FOR HIGHCOST UTILITY; INCREASED FOR LOW-COST UTILITY

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
High-Cost
				Utility; Election by Utility
. A water utility may, with the approval of
				the Commission, be exempted from investing in a water main extension or may
				invest less than the amount otherwise required by Sections
				3 or
				4 if it is a high-cost utility, as
				defined in this subsection. A utility has high costs if the additional annual
				investment and operating revenue required to serve additional customers exceeds
				the amount of revenue which those customers will supply. If a utility has
				received approval to eliminate or reduce its investments pursuant to this
				section, individuals or developers requesting the construction of a water main
				extension, or service from an existing water main extension during the 10 years
				following connection of the first customer shall be responsible for the entire
				construction cost of the water main extension or all amounts in excess of any
				reduced investment amount through developer or customer contributions. The
				original customer contribution(s) and recalculation of customer contributions
				when additional customers are connected shall be in accordance with section
				1(B) or
				1(C), as applicable,
				but only the required investment amount shall be deducted.
B.
Low-Cost Utility; Election by
				Utility
. If a water utility is a low-cost utility as defined in this
				subsection, it may choose to invest in the utility's portion of service lines,
				whether from a main extension or not; and, with the approval of the Commission,
				it may invest a greater amount in main extensions than the amount set by
				section
				1(F). A water utility
				has low costs if additional revenue which new customers provide exceeds the
				additional annual investment and operating costs to serve those customers. A
				utility is presumed to meet this test if it has excess capacity in the commonly
				used facilities of the water system, including reservoirs, standpipes,
				treatment systems, pumping facilities and transmission mains and low customer
				growth.
C.
Prima Facie
				Evidence of High-Cost Utility
. There shall be a presumption that a
				utility is a high-growth utility if it has undertaken reasonable conservation
				and load-management efforts and:
1. It has
				experienced:
(a) an increase in service
				installations in excess of an average of 1.5% compounded for the previous three
				years (4.57% for the three-year period); and
(b) Because of that growth in service
				installations, it is necessary to undertake a construction program of commonly
				used facilities of the water system, including reservoirs, standpipes,
				treatment systems, pumping facilities and transmission mains; and the program
				requires additional investment-related revenue of 15% or more. The percentage
				of investment-related revenue shall be determined pursuant to the first
				fraction of the investment factor formula state in section
				1(F),
i.e
.
, (D + A + I)/(R + T).