© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Lawmakers debate how to help Mainers struck by high electricity prices

In this Tuesday, May 28, 2019 photo power lines power lines are seen in Pownal, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP file
In this Tuesday, May 28, 2019 photo power lines power lines are seen in Pownal, Maine.

As Mainers clamor for action on the this year's painful spike in energy bills, state policymakers are responding with a variety of proposals for short- and long-term fixes. And it seems likely that some quick relief for thousands of low-income electricity customers will arrive in March.

But the debate over more expansive programs will likely revolve around how far up the economic ladder they should reach, and who should pay for it.

A national squeeze on natural gas supplies is driving up energy costs in New England this winter by as much as 80%. In one response, Maine regulators are considering whether to expand a program that provides low-income consumers a credit on their electricity bills, based on a sliding scale.

The director of the state Office of the Public Advocate, William Harwood, told the Legislature's utility committee that expanding the targeted benefit could depend on a variety of funding sources, including raising rates on all electricity consumers.

"We understand that by just moving the dollars around among ratepayers we may be saving some ratepayers money but causing more hardship for others, which is something we have to pay very close attention to," he said.

The immediate proposal would raise funding for the low-income assistance program by 50%, to almost $12 million. At the same time, Harwood said, it will potentially reach many more people.

That's because it would be extended to people now enrolled in any U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assistance program, while DHHS and the utilities have found a way to better identify eligible Maine residents, and make it easier for them to enroll.

Right now, he said, less than 20% of eligible households are getting the benefit, and that it should be expanded.

"The goal would be to find that sweet spot where, for just a couple of extra dollars a month on the higher-income ratepayers, we can come up with a fund of money that will make it possible for low-income ratepayers not to be caught in the situation that none of us want to see them in where they are choosing to either pay their utility bills or purchase necessities like food and medicine," Harwood said.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission said it has the authority for what it terms a "limited" expansion of the program, because its funding will be capped and once depleted the credits will end for the year. But some lawmakers want to go further.

"This winter is showing us that much more needs to be done," said state Sen. Eloise Vitelli, an Arrowsic Democrat who is pushing a measure that would raise the income-eligibility bar for the low-income bill credit to 200% of the federal poverty level, or about $50,000 for a family of four.

"This bill directs the PUC to structure the program so it can also help participants address late fees and arrearages with their electric bill in order to assist the members of the community who are struggling now," she said.

But Vitelli's bill is silent on how that could be funded. Some of her colleagues and others worried that residents and businesses that don't get the benefit would be the ones to pay for it. And state Sen. Trey Stewart, a Republican from Presque Isle, said a more expansive definition of who deserves relief may be in order.

"It impacts middle income families, heck it impacts every family. And it impacts businesses too," he said, "because that makes up a lot of the population of Maine too. And they're hurting a lot because of the recent changes."

Vitelli said she does want to more broadly address the needs of working families and small businesses. And she noted that her measure will also create a stakeholders group tasked with finding new ways to help avert the type of sudden price increases seen this winter.

Later this week, meanwhile, regulators will consider Mills' proposal to provide a one-time, $90 bill credit to tens of thousands of low-income customers of Central Maine Power and Versant. That initiative will be funded by the federal government. If approved, the credits could appear on bills this March.

Corrected: February 17, 2022 at 8:23 AM EST
A quote from state Sen. Trey Stewart was mistakenly attributed to state Rep. Chris Kessler.
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.