Dec. 2 – About 100,000 households in Maine are struggling to pay some of the most expensive electric bills in the U.S., and costs will continue to rise through 2025, according to a state report released Monday.
The Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council has urged state lawmakers to expand the Low-Income Assistance Program so that greater benefits go to more low-wage households to “close the affordability gap they face.”
The council, which evaluates electricity affordability in Maine and advises the state attorney on how to promote savings, said in its annual report to the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee that low-income taxpayers in Maine pay an average of about 8% . of their household income for electricity. As a percentage of income, low-wage households in Maine pay three times more for electricity than average, according to the report.
Public Advocate William Harwood said he hopes the Legislature and other policymakers will consider recommendations to strengthen financial assistance programs “and seriously address the crushing burden that today’s high electricity prices are placing on low-income consumers.”
“We should never put consumers in the untenable position of having to choose between paying their utility bills and providing the food and medicine they need for their families,” he said.
Costs are expected to rise 7% for Central Maine Power Co. customers next year. and by 4.5% for Versant Power customers in Bangor Hydro District, Harwood said. Higher transmission speed, approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is the main driver of the higher costs. It fluctuates every year and is distributed among the six New England states, CMP spokesman Jon Breed said.
The formula benefited Maine customers in 2024, resulting in a one-year $4 credit that expires next year, he said. The allocation for Maine will increase by about $4 in 2025, resulting in a change of about $8 for customers, he said.
The increase offsets a slight decrease from the standard rate approved last month by the state Public Utilities Commission. The standard offer is the standard supply price for nine out of ten private and small business customers who do not enter into an electricity contract with competing energy suppliers. The second of a two-year increase approved by regulators in 2023 to fund improvements to CMP’s distribution system will also take effect next year.
CMP serves approximately 635,000 customers and Versant Power serves approximately 165,000 customers in Maine.
The transmission fee increases affecting Versant will also take effect in January; the impact will be calculated in December, spokeswoman Judy Long said.
The Public Utilities Commission says eligibility for the Low-Income Assistance Program, which helps qualified consumers pay for electricity costs, is based on qualifying for low-income heating assistance and participating in means-tested state programs with a household income of 150% or less. federal poverty guidelines.
For a single person, the federal poverty guideline in 2024 is $15,060 per year, and $31,200 for a family of four.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity costs in Maine, and New England generally, are among the highest in the U.S. The average retail price of electricity in Maine was 20.84 cents per kilowatt hour in 2023. The costs are due to several factors, including the volatile price of natural gas, which makes up most of the power used to generate electricity; limited access to natural gas pipelines compared to other regions, making it vulnerable to supply shortages when demand is high, such as in the winter months; and the transition to carbon-free energy.
In contrast, electricity ratepayers in states such as Iowa, Kentucky and Louisiana pay less than 10 cents per kWh.
Higher electricity costs are also caused by competing electricity suppliers, the retailers who sell to consumers who choose not to pay the standard rate set by the PUC, the report said. By 2023, more than three-quarters of residential customers of competing electricity suppliers paid more than if they had purchased a standard offer, the report said. Low-income customers are disproportionately likely to respond to claims of energy savings in marketing by competing electricity suppliers, the report said.
From 2016 to 2023, electricity suppliers charged Maine households $135 million more for electricity than what they would have been charged under the standard offer, the report said.
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