Maine Public Utilities Commission

NEWS RELEASE

Maine Public Utilities Commission
242 State Street
Augusta, Maine 04333-0018
Website: http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/, Email: maine.puc@maine.gov
CONTACT: Nicole Clegg, 207-287-8519, Nicole.Clegg@maine.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2006

PUC Accepts Standard Offer Bid for Northern Maine

AUGUSTA, MAINE – Today, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) accepted WPS Energy Services Inc. (WPS)’s motion to reconsider the PUC’s rejection of its standard offer bid and further accepted its bid for retail standard offer service in Aroostook County. Citing that only one retail bidder participated in the RFP process, the PUC had rejected all standard offer bids for Aroostook County in November. The newly negotiated standard offer bid comes as a result of lengthy negotiations over the past two weeks and offers consumers lower prices than the bids the PUC rejected on November 16, 2006.

“The PUC did not make the decision to reject the standard offer bids for Aroostook lightly,” commented Kurt Adams, Chairman of the PUC. “We understood that the market issues we were dealing with would require time to both complete a thorough review and make recommendations for a stable market in the long term. At the same time, we have a responsibility to stabilize rates as best as possible for the short term. To that end, we have negotiated a contract for a twenty-six month period, during which we hope to implement long term solutions to solve the problems leading to the failure of the market in Northern Maine,” concluded Adams.

Standard offer service is the only type of default service in Maine and is provided directly by standard offer providers to customers at retail. The PUC solicits suppliers to provide standard offer service through a competitive bid process.

MPS is a regulated transmission and distribution utility serving more than 37,000 customers in northern Maine. The MPS service territory covers 3,600 square miles and its total retail sales in 2005 were approximately 554 million kWh with a system peak demand of 101 megawatts.

Approximately 98% of the loads of residential and small non-residential customers and 65% of medium and 10% of large C&I customers currently receive standard offer. The newly negotiated standard offer rates will result in a 20% increase for residential customers.

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The Public Utilities Commission is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to safe and reliable service for public utilities and that the rates for these utilities are just and reasonable. PUC programs include Maine Enhanced 911 Service, Dig Safe, and Efficiency Maine.

To arrange an interview with Chairman Adams or Commissioner Reishus, please contact Nicole Clegg at 207.287.8519 or by e-mail at nicole.clegg@maine.gov. The Commission’s website, http://www.state.me.us/mpuc/index.html, may be accessed through the Maine School and Library Network at all public libraries in Maine.