Electricity Maine will refund about 20,000 customers as part of a settlement over its unfair billing practices.
As part of the settlement, approved Wednesday by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, Electricity Maine will refund those customers up to three months of prior charges, according to the public advocate’s office.
The public advocate’s office said that Electricity Maine switched its customers to variable rate contracts without their consent, causing significant price increases and some customers to see bills rise by hundreds of dollars a month. It allegedly charged more than double the standard rate offer.
The public advocate received more than 125 complaints from Electricity Maine customers over a four-month period from late 2022 into early 2023.
“Electricity Maine customers were overcharged by millions of dollars compared with what they would have paid had they paid the standard offer price for electricity,” Public Advocate William Harwood said Wednesday morning.
Electricity Maine also will pay a $315,000 penalty as part of the settlement.
“Given the company’s unsatisfactory practices in Maine over the last few years, it’s my fervent hope that this will remind them to respect our laws of fair trade,” Harwood said.
As part of a 2000 restructuring of the electricity industry in Maine, the Legislature allowed power companies to only deliver electricity, not generate it. Under this scheme, Maine customers can choose a standard rate offer set by the utilities commission for the state’s major utilities or go with a “competitive electricity provider,” such as Electricity Maine. The utilities commission does not review or approve such providers rates.
In May, the commission rejected an earlier version of the settlement because it didn’t adequately account for repeated violations of state law, according to Maine Public.
