Maine households that purchase their electricity though unregulated companies were overcharged about $156 million over eight years according to a new state analysis.
The report, from the state Electric Ratepayers Advisory Council, found customers of competitive electricity providers paid higher electric prices compared to people who selected a fixed standard offer rate offered through Versant Power and Central Maine Power.
The report relied on previously undisclosed customer data and gives a more detailed view of the disparity in pricing, said Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn.
"It is above the standard offer in most months of the year," Sanborn said in an interview.
"It makes me scratch my head as to why anyone would sign up. But apparently people do, or else these companies would go out of business," Sanborn added.
Electric customers in Maine can choose to take the standard offer or go with a competitive provider, whose rates are unregulated by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
The report also found an increasing number of low-income customers signing up for offers from competitive electricity providers. People who have difficulty paying their power bills can get assistance from the state's Low Income Assistance Program, which is funded by electric ratepayers.
"We have suspected in the OPA for a long time that it was the case, that a lot of LIAP customers were losing money on these deals," Sanborn said.
"A low-income consumer might be the most motivated to try and find a better deal. But it is very hard to find a better deal in most months," Sanborn added.
In 2025, about 59,000 customers were signed up for service through competitive providers, including almost 5,000 LIAP recipients.
State lawmakers on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to entertain a bill that would limit competitive suppliers from charging LIAP customers more than the standard offer.
Competitive providers in Maine have a mixed reputation. One company, Electricity Maine, was ordered in 2024 to repay $6 million to customers it overbilled.
But companies including C.N. Brown of South Paris questioned the methodology of the recent report. In a letter to Sanborn this week, the company along with NRG Energy Inc. and Constellation Energy said the analysis was the continuation of a campaign to eliminate competitive providers.
The companies said they would be willing to participate in a new study that "fully evaluates the value Maine's competitive electricity supply market provides to consumers."
