By Rep. Kilton Webb, D-Durham
In the Legislature, one of the issues I hear from constituents more than any other is that the rising cost of living is making it difficult for working families to make ends meet. The increasing costs of housing, health care, child care, groceries and other everyday essentials are making it harder for Mainers to get by, let alone get ahead. Energy costs are also near the top of the list.
At a time when many people are struggling to afford basic necessities, electricity price increases in particular are putting a lot of families in a difficult position. But no household should have to choose between paying their electricity bill or buying groceries. A lot of my work on the Energy Committee has focused on looking for ways to hold our utilities accountable and lower costs for Maine ratepayers – but there’s still a lot more work to do.
Last month, Maine ratepayers finally got a little reprieve when the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rejected Central Maine Power’s (CMP) proposal to increase electricity rates even further. Their proposal would have raised rates annually for the next five years, adding about $35 a month to the average customer bill. This proposal would have cost Maine ratepayers $1.4 billion over those five years, CMP’s largest request to date.
While this rejection was welcome news for CMP customers, we can still expect rates to increase this month. For residential customers, the rate most customers pay for electricity, known as the “standard offer,” will rise from 10.61 cents to 12.72 cents per kilowatt-hour, resulting in an increase of $11 a month for the average household.
For families wondering how they’ll be able to keep paying all of their bills at the end of the month, every increase like this one hurts. That’s why I’m putting forward a common-sense proposal during this legislative session that will help take the pressure off of many Maine families and give them some breathing room to help pay their electricity bills.
My bill, LD 2078, An Act to Establish the Electricity Cost Fairness Refundable Tax Credit, would provide targeted relief for eligible Mainers through a new income tax credit of up to $600 per year, putting money directly back into the pockets of those who need it most. The credit would work similar to the state’s existing Property Tax Fairness Credit and Sales Tax Fairness Credit, two proven policies that have helped lessen the tax burden facing many Mainers.
Electricity is a necessity, not a luxury. While the Legislature is often limited in our ability to control energy costs, this bill offers a meaningful step forward that will directly help ease the financial burden that countless Mainers are feeling. We need to be doing everything we can to ensure that our neighbors, including working families, veterans and seniors on fixed incomes, can afford to keep their lights on – literally.
The bill has a public hearing before the Legislature’s Taxation Committee on January 21, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to hopefully enact it into law. Because it’s more than just good policy, it’s the right thing to do.
Rep. Kilton Webb is serving his first term in the Maine House and represents House District 98, which includes Durham, Pownal and portions of Lisbon, Bowdoin and Topsham. He serves on the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.