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CMP Customers To See Decrease On Monthly Bills

Abukar Adan
/
Maine Public
A broken pole and downed wires across a street in Yarmouth, seen Nov. 1, 2017

Central Maine Power (CMP) and Maine's consumer advocate have agreed that electricity consumers can be charged $34 million for costs related to recovery from the October 2017 wind storm, which cut services to thousands of Mainers.

The cost will largely be offset, says Public Advocate Barry Hobbins, by a recent cut in the federal corporate tax and by changes in accounting methodology that reduces consumer liability for costs stemming from this year's March storm.

Hobbins says analysts who he hired agreed with CMP that the earlier storm inflicted a total of $70 million in damage.

"Individuals that we hired really put CMP to the task of proving every single penny of the cost and unfortunately, the reality is, it was a terrible storm," Hobbins says.

CMP says the agreement would result in about a 60 cent monthly decrease in the typical residential electricity bill, starting in July. The Maine Public Utilities Commission still must make a final decision on the allowable storm costs.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 5:08 p.m. ET.

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.