NEWS RELEASE
Maine
Public Utilities Commission
Website: http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/,
Email: maine.puc@maine.gov
CONTACT: Phillip Lindley, 207.287.1598, phil.lindley@maine.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2006
Maine PUC Sets Public Witness Hearing on CMP Rate Plan
The Maine PUC has scheduled a “public witness” hearing in Portland on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at:
Portland High School
(in the John Ford Auditorium)
284 Cumberland Avenue
Portland, Maine
CMP customers
are invited and encouraged to tell the Commission about CMP’s rates and service
quality as a transmission and distribution utility that delivers electricity to
residences and businesses throughout southern and central
The rate plan is only for the delivery portion of the bill. The energy portion of the bill, whether the customer is on standard offer service or buys power from a competitive supplier, is determined by the market price for electricity at the time it is purchased.
The hearing is part of a proceeding in which the Commission will decide whether to approve a proposed settlement filed by CMP and the Public Advocate (and later joined by the Industrial Energy Consumer Group) to extend the current incentive rate plan (called the Alternative Rate Plan or ARP) for another three years, or until December 31, 2010. The current ARP, which has been in effect since 2001, is otherwise set to expire on December 31, 2007.
The ARP establishes the rules and formulas that determine annual changes to the “distribution” component of CMP’s rates, which for residential customers is about 70% of their total CMP rate. Under the annual rate change formula, CMP’s rates are increased to reflect inflation and decreased to reflect “productivity,” or cost savings and efficiencies in how CMP provides service. The net effect can be an increase or a decrease in rates, depending upon the level of inflation and the productivity “factor” being used.
The ARP also sets service quality benchmarks against which CMP’s performance is measured each year, for items like customer complaints, service interruptions (both frequency and length), call wait-time and service order timeliness. If the proposed extension is approved, the performance benchmarks in the current ARP will continue as the metrics for service quality through 2010.
Public witness hearing participants may give ether sworn or unsworn testimony:
Sworn Testimony, given under oath, is part of the official record of the case and is reviewed by the Commission before it makes its final decision. Commenters are requested to provide a copy of any prepared written statement.
Unsworn Testimony will not be part of the official case record, but can provide the basis for further MPUC investigation. Those who give unsworn testimony may also want to provide a written statement of your views about the case.
In addition, the proposed ARP extension settlement, the MPUC Advisory Staff’s analysis of the settlement, as well as other material submitted in the case, can be accessed from the “virtual case file” on the Commission’s website at http://mpuc.informe.org/easyfile/ .
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For more information: Docket Number 2005-729, at http://mpuc.informe.org/easyfile/. Use 2005729 as the Case ID.
All PUC News
Releases may be found on our website at: http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/staying_informed/news/press_release.shtml
To arrange an
interview with Chairman Adams or Commissioners Diamond or Reishus, please
contact Phillip Lindley at 207.287.1598 or by e-mail at phil.lindley@maine.gov. The Commission’s website may be accessed
through the