MAINE ENERGY RATEPAYERS GET THE ‘SHORT END OF STICK’
Déjà vu politics: LePage admin reneges on contract, business goes elsewhere
AUGUSTA – Assistant Democratic Leader Dawn Hill released the following statement in response to Maine’s loss of a long-term power purchase agreement from SunEdison.
Sen. Dawn Hill of York
“It feels a bit like a scene from Alice in Wonderland. In what scenario will businesses or ratepayers be on the winning side with a regulatory agency and a governor who repeatedly change the rules of the game and go back on their word,” said Senator Hill of York, who also serves on the state’s Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee. “Despite all of Gov. LePage’s rhetoric about taking a regional approach to energy costs, he has handed over $73 million in ratepayer savings to southern New England. It’s a shame that Mainers get the short end of the stick with Gov. LePage’s politics.”
SunEdison’s decision to pursue long-term agreements elsewhere in New England is the direct result of an earlier decision by the Maine Public Utilities Commission in February to reopen the bidding process for two long-term energy contracts: Weaver Wind and Highland Wind. Both projects had been previously approved by the PUC in December 2014.
“As a business person, Gov. LePage should know entering in to a contract means something. As a regulatory agency, the PUC should know that contracts are legally binding. What message does this blatant disregard send to the business community? Whose side are they on? It seems at every turn the interest of Maine people are second-fiddle to the political gamesmanship by the LePage administration.”
Together, these projects, Weaver Wind and Highland Wind would have helped lower electric costs for Maine consumers by up to $73 million. According to the PUC, Highland Wind in Somerset County would sell its power for 4.7 cents per kilowatt hour for 20 years and Weaver Wind in Hancock County would sell power for 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour for 25 years. Both of these contracts are well below the current electricity supply rates for many customers with the standard offer rate at 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
The PUC is a three-member commission that is intended to operate as an independent regulatory agency but when newly appointed PUC Commissioner Carlie McLean – former legal counsel to LePage – joined the Commission’s Chair and LePage appointee Mark Vannoy, she was the deciding vote to reverse the PUC’s prior which entered into contract with Weaver and Highland wind projects. Commissioner David Littell voted against the re-opening the bid.
