Senate Majority Leader Vitelli praises Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council report

AUGUSTA — On Thursday, the Office of the Public Advocate presented the Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council Report before the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. Sen. Eloise Vitelli’s LD 1913, “An Act To Review Strategies for Improving Utility Rate Affordability and To Provide Utility Relief” established the Council in 2022 to make recommendations to ensure Maine ratepayers are able to afford electricity. 

“In every corner of Maine, Mainers are struggling with high energy costs. This report recognizes that and lays out ways we can tackle the problem,” said Sen. Vitelli, D-Arrowsic. “I’ve spent years working to improve Maine’s energy grid, from how we are proactive in storing and generating more of our own power to how we provide emergency relief to Mainers in need — all with Maine ratepayers in mind. Though our state is on a strong and steady path toward renewable energy, we must make sure ratepayers’ needs get utmost attention. I’m pleased that this report outlines the ways we can streamline the support Maine families need.”

The Ratepayer Advisory Council explored strategies to make energy efficiency programs more accessible to low-income, moderate-income, and small business ratepayers, including renters. Among 17 recommendations, the Council considered the option of expanding the ability to auto-enroll Mainers in utility assistance programs who are already known by the state to qualify.

This report set forth recommendations based on these findings: 

1. There are approximately 70,000 low-income Maine households who need financial assistance to pay their electric bills, which average more than $1,500 per year. 

2. Today, less than one-half of those low-income households actually receive assistance under the current electricity Low-Income Assistance Program (LIAP), and the individual LIAP benefits are insufficient to make electricity affordable to most recipients.

3. Maine lags behind many other states in providing assistance to low-income electric utility ratepayers.

4. To ensure that electricity is affordable (typically measured at less than 4% of household income), Maine needs to increase annual funding for the assistance programs from its current level of approximately $17 million to approximately $60 million.

This winter, the Legislature acted quickly to send $450 relief checks to help Maine families with immediate heating and energy costs. On top of supporting efforts to provide short-term relief, Sen. Vitelli will be pushing for additional legislation this session to increase Maine’s energy independence and put the state on a path to lowering costs of utility bills over the long term.