Utility customers in Maine who sign up for competitive electricity providers continue to pay more than they would if they stuck with the state’s standard offer, a new report released Monday found.
The findings from the Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council’s annual report for 2024 are part of the reason why the 13-member group and Public Advocate Bill Harwood are calling on lawmakers to authorize greater access to data that could reveal disparities in terms of lower-income consumers and communities paying more than they need to for electricity.
Harwood and customers have warned of their bills more than doubling under the competitive electricity providers that are based in Maine or out of state. The advisory council’s latest report laid out the difference — the alternative providers charged Maine households $135 million more from 2016 to 2023 for electric supply than what the standard offer charged, with 77 percent of residential customers last year paying more than the standard offer.
Harwood’s office wants policymakers to require utilities to share data on which customers are overcharged for electricity by income level and by ZIP code. Central Maine Power Co. said the Public Utilities Commission needs to authorize the release of that data, but the commission then said lawmakers need to do that, Harwood said. A case tied to that matter is pending. Meanwhile, Harwood said lawmakers could also pass legislation in 2025 to fix that.
“I cannot get a lot of traction on this issue,” Harwood said Friday, noting the competitive energy providers are not engaging in illegal behavior but may make exaggerated claims of savings.
Spokespeople for CMP and Versant Power decline to comment Monday on the report but noted the utilities do not set the supply prices.
It is not the first time competitive electricity providers have faced scrutiny in Maine. Regulators, lawmakers and Harwood have all received complaints in the past few years from Mainers who hoped for reduced electric rates by signing up for one of the about a dozen alternative providers instead of the standard offer price set by the Public Utilities Commission.
The percentage of residential and small-business customers who use competitive electricity providers in Maine has declined from around 27 percent in 2014 to 11 percent as of this fall, the ratepayer advisory council found. Massachusetts and Connecticut are among states with higher percentages of residents using the alternative providers. Still, Maine advocates point to the price differences.
The Public Utilities Commission approved in November a standard offer rate of 10.61 cents per kilowatt-hour for CMP customers in 2025, a slight decrease from the current 10.64 cents per kilowatt-hour rate. Versant Power’s residential customers will see increases from 11.29 cents per kilowatt-hour to 11.65 cents per-kilowatt hour for the Maine Public District and from 10.26 cents per kilowatt-hour to 10.56 cents per kilowatt-hour for the Bangor Hydro District.
Prices for various competitive electricity providers, meanwhile, range from 10.90 cents per kilowatt-hour under a 12-month plan for CMP customers using Think Energy to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour for Ambit Energy, with higher rates for different, specialized plans.
Phone calls to various competitive electricity providers operating in Maine resulted in representatives directing a reporter to a general customer service email or phone number.
The cost differences especially affect the approximately 100,000 low-income customers struggling to afford energy prices in Maine who put about 8 percent of their income to electricity, double the maximum 4 percent that consumer experts recommend. The annual report that Harwood’s office submitted to lawmakers Monday on behalf of the advisory council also notes the state’s electricity prices are well above the national average.
Maine’s average retail price of 10.84 cents per kilowatt hour in 2023 was the eighth highest among all states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The ratepayer advisory council’s annual report also recommends the Legislature increase consumer education and outreach to low-income customers in order to help save costs and more efficiently use electricity, and it echoes a suggestion from previous years to boost funding for the Low-Income Assistance Program.
The report found the “affordability gap” in Maine, which is the difference between what electricity costs and what low-income customers can afford, is about $85 million a year. Harwood said the low-income electricity assistance program currently has about $15 million annually to dole out but needs that higher amount of funding to help bring down the average share of income that low-income Mainers spend on electricity from 8 percent to the recommended 4 percent.
In the meantime, Harwood said “it’s just every man for himself.”
