'Massive and unacceptable': Central Maine Power files request to increase rates
PORTLAND (WGME) – Central Maine Power has officially filed its request to proceed with a rate increase to support a 5-year workforce and grid strengthening plan.
“I am concerned because we just changed to electric heat and to heat pumps,” says one Maine resident. “I am not surprised. It is run by an international corporation,” replied another.
That’s just a sampling of the concerns heard by Maine residents. Almost 200 comments are posted on the public utilities commission page under Central Maine Power’s grid strengthening initiative case that was officially filed today.
Central Maine Power’s goal is to accumulate 427 million dollars in revenue by the end of year five. In this notice sent to all CMP customers the company says in year one, your bill will increase by approximately 17 dollars, it’ll then go up by a few dollars each year amounting to an increase of 35 dollars a month by year five.
Maine’s public advocate Heather Sanborn says if approved, the plan would lead to “substantial increases” in electric rates for customers starting in October 2026. She called this an “enormous” increase coming at a time when families are already struggling with bills. She’s asking the public to speak at two witness hearings coming up in October. “We are really going to be scrutinizing every detail of their rate plan,” she says.
CMP aims to spend 1.4 billion dollars over 5 years on grid improvements and the hiring of additional 400 full-time, Maine based employees, including 200 new union line workers.
“We did this to create stability across the bills and what customers pay to help ensure affordability while also making the critical investments we need in the grid,” Jon Breed a CMP spokesperson says. “One of the changes you may see in your neighborhood deals with replacing wires like this one going through these trees with what they call tree wire which have an insulated covering to prevent direct contact with limbs. They also want to replace street poles with taller, thicker wood.”
The overall plan calls for installing stronger poles, running hundreds of miles of new wire to reduce tree-caused outages and installing smart technology across the grid. They say this all goes back to stabilizing the impact and cost of extreme weather events.
In response to criticism on the proposal by Janet Mills, Breed says, “as a regulated utility all of our rates are established in an open and transparent and public process and we look forward to a conversation with leaders across the state.”
Governor Janet Mills announced her opposition to CMP’s request Tuesday.
“I recognize that investing in our grid to improve reliability is important, but this request is massive and unacceptable,” Mills said.
The public utilities commission is expected to start considering this proposal in October. That’ll be followed by public hearings, with the first one on October 14 at 6 p.m. in the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport