Maine Power’s Rate Hike: Is It Worth the Money?

Central Maine Power (CMP) is once again asking the state’s Public Utilities Commission for a rate increase. Before any decision, it’s essential to examine whether the company truly deserves more money from its customers.

Reliability Record: Alarming and Consistently Poor

• Outages
• From 2016‑2024, Maine ranked last in major event outages six of nine years.
• Even excluding big incidents, Maine had the most outages in three years.

• In 2024, a typical customer lost power 2.5 times, versus the national average of 1.1.

• Outage Duration
• Maine ranked among the bottom states for total outage hours in eight of nine years.
• A regular American lost 2.3 hours, while a Maine customer lost 5.8 hours—more than double.

Weather Claims Do Not Explain the Problems

• CMP cites storms and dense forests.
• Only 62 % of the area around CMP’s customers is forested.
• Maine rarely experiences hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or earthquakes that could justify persistent outages.
• Nine years of poor performance undermine the weather argument.

Customer Satisfaction: A Declining Trend

• Residential
• Ranked last in the JD Power survey for three of the last six years among 120 utilities.
• Business
• Finished last in four of six years when ranked.

These scores indicate a company that has lost focus on service quality.

Historical Context

• 2000: CMP acquired by Energy East.
• 2008: Iberdrola takeover accelerated decline.
• Priorities shifted from reliable, affordable service to maximizing returns for foreign owners.

Recommendations for the Commission

1. Enforce Strict Oversight
   
   • Require audited performance targets tied to a fair return on equity (~6 %).
2. Add Technical Staff
   
   • Allocate budget for technical staff at CMP’s expense to improve grid reliability.
3. Condition Rate Increase on Tangible Gains
   
   • Only approve a rate hike if CMP demonstrates responsible spending and real improvement.

Ratepayers have waited long enough. The Commission must hold CMP accountable, demand tangible performance gains, and ensure that any new funds are used wisely for the public good.