May 31, 2023

Hallowell, Maine- The Maine Public Utilities Commission (Commission) approved Versant Power Company's Request for Approval of a Stipulation in its Distribution Rate Case today. The stipulation presented to the Commission was signed by the Office of the Public Advocate, AARP Maine, Efficiency Maine Trust, the Aroostook Energy Association, and Walmart Inc. The stipulation was not opposed by any party involved in the case.

The new rates will be implemented in two phases to mitigate the impact on customers, with about half beginning July 1, 2023, and half January 1, 2024. This will amount to an increase of approximately 14% in the distribution rate in July 2023 and approximately 12.5% to the distribution rate in January 2024. For the average residential customer, this equates to about $5 per month in July and an additional $5 per month in January 2024.

"A rate increase is not something the Commission takes lightly," said Chair Philip L. Bartlett II. In this case, the parties came together to put forward a reasonable compromise that balances the need for investment with customer impact, while also ensuring accountability for improved reliability.

The new rate includes funding for infrastructure investments, smart meter upgrades, and inflation. It also includes system reliability improvements with stringent penalties holding utilities accountable for missing new, stricter Service Quality Indices (SQIs) related to frequency and duration of outages, call answering metrics, billing accuracy and timeliness of fulfilling field service requests.

For any SQI where Versant does not meet the metric for a particular year, Versant will pay a penalty based on the percentage by which the performance deviates from the benchmark. Penalties of up to $3 million would be paid back to customers through stranded costs.

Ultimately, we wanted to ensure that these reliability investments lead to tangible benefits for customers, Bartlett said. As customers increase reliance on electricity, including for heating and transportation, and significant investments are needed to make the clean-energy transition, it is imperative that customers see they are getting value for the rates they pay. We can expect performance metrics and accountability for meeting them to become a regular feature of rate cases so that customers can be confident their utilities are investing wisely to ensure safe, adequate, and reliable service.

While supply rates are separate from distribution rates and are not charged by the transmission and distribution utility, an anticipated decrease in Standard Offer supply rates related to market conditions in January 2024 justifies delaying some of the rate increase until January. The Commission is separately reviewing Versants proposed increase to the stranded cost component of charges and anticipates a decision in June.

All public documents in the case are available on the Commissions Online Case Management System. Please reference Case 2022-00255.

About the Commission

The Maine Public Utilities Commission regulates electric, telephone, water and gas utilities to ensure that Maine citizens have access to safe and reliable utility service at rates that are just and reasonable for all ratepayers, while also helping to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Commission programs include Maine Enhanced 911 Service, gas safety and Dig Safe. Philip L. Bartlett, II serves as Chair, Patrick Scully and Carolyn Gilbert serve as Commissioners.

Learn more about the Commission at www.maine.gov/mpuc/

CONTACT: Susan Faloon, Media Liaison CELL: 207-557-3704 EMAIL: susan.faloon@maine.gov