Consumers are furious about the poor reliability and high cost of electricity delivered by CMP and Versant. Gov. Janet Mills has proposed a bill (LD 1959) that is intended to improve the situation and make all electric utilities accountable to the public. The bill does not accomplish those goals and has major shortcomings.
The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to adopt quantitative standards for transmission and distribution utilities and to issue quarterly report cards covering six topics. Performance standards are vital to making utilities accountable, but the standards will be adopted by the PUC without review by the Legislature; PUC standards are supposed to reflect standard industry practices — Mainers deserve best industry practices; and fair and affordable pricing is not even considered. Electricity supply and delivery rates charged by CMP and Versant will continue to be determined by the PUC through its rate-setting procedures, which are opaque to the public. PUC adoption of performance standards will be time-consuming and contentious, because the utilities will argue vigorously for lenient standards.
The bill provides that if a utility fails to meet any performance standard for two consecutive calendar quarters or otherwise consistently underperforms, the PUC may impose substantial financial penalties after an adversarial proceeding.
If a utility still continues to consistently underperform, the PUC may initiate another adversarial proceeding that could theoretically result in divesture of the utility or its assets. The utility will deploy squadrons of attorneys to oppose divestiture. The procedure will drag on for years at high cost to everyone involved. In the end, nothing will have changed. The utilities will continue to be owned by foreign companies and continue to provide poor service and high electric bills.
Moreover, LD 1959 deflects public attention from the larger issue of whether CMP and Versant should be replaced with a consumer-owned utility. Yes, CMP and Versant should be replaced, because they consistently fail to deliver reliable and affordable electric service to Mainers.
I urge Times Record readers to tell their legislators to oppose LD 1959.
Hugh Maynard,
Bath
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