AUGUSTA, Maine - Central Maine Power customers who opt for the "standard offer'' for electricity will be seeing their rates going down beginning in March.
The Public Utilities Commission, which feared rates would be going up, not down, approved bids Tuesday that will lead to a 13.4 percent drop in rates for the 10-month period from March 1 through the end of December.
Tim Schneider, the state's public advocate, told the Portland Press Herald that the lower rates were "entirely unexpected.'' Credit likely goes to plummeting oil prices.
The rate change applies to home and business customers who get their electricity from the standard offer, the default for those who don't want to shop for an energy supplier.
