About 20,000 former and current Electricity Maine customers will soon receive refunds after the company overcharged them, according to the Office of the Public Advocate.
The refunds are part of a settlement among the Office of the Public Advocate, the Public Utilities Commission and Electricity Maine.
As part of a settlement, approximately 20,000 Electricity Maine customers will receive refunds of up to three months of unlawful charges.
Electricity Maine was also ordered to be a $315,000 fire as part of the settlement.
The Office of the Public Advocate said that customers will receive refunds via debit cards, which will need to be activated upon receipt.
Depending on how many months’ worth of refunds a customer is entitled to, they may receive a second refund, which will be mailed approximately 190 days after the first refund.
The amount of the refund is based on the amount of time customers were charged a variable rate without their consent and the amount the customer paid above the standard offer at the time, according to the Office of the Public Advocate.
The Public Utilities Commission said the settlement ends a lengthy investigation into Electricity Maine’s billing practices. The Office of the Public Advocate received more than 125 complaints from Electricity Maine customers in the space of four months between 2022 and 2023.
According to the utilities commission, Electricity Maine was charging some customers a rate more than double the standard offer rate without obtaining customers’ consent or notifying them that the rate had increased or that their contracts had been extended.
In 2000, the Maine Legislature restructured the state’s electric industry by taking power companies out of the generating business, allowing them only to deliver electricity.
For the supply of electricity, consumers can choose either the standard offer rate, which is set annually by the utilities commission, or alternatively, choose a competitive electricity provider such as Electricity Maine, whose rates are not subject to regulatory review or approval.
Maine ratepayers can choose to switch back from a competitive electricity provider to the standard offer provider at any time without a penalty by contacting their utility.
