Maine has some of the highest electric utility rates in the nation. (We fall solidly in the top ten in many studies.) With rates roughly twice the national average, many Mainers struggle to pay their energy bills. Much ink has been spilled on the why, which we’ll continue to cover here on the Maine Public Climate Desk — for instance, the New England grid’s overreliance on natural gas, which makes us vulnerable to fluctuations in the international market, along with the cost to repair damage from the 2023-2024 winter storms.
Energy affordability is at the forefront of a looming fight between Central Maine Power, the Mills administration and ratepayers.
In September, CMP filed a proposed five-year rate increase that would raise monthly bills by about $35 for the average Maine household.
The utility company, which serves nearly 700,000 customers, says the rate increase will help pay for tree trimming, expansions to the grid, tech upgrades, and hiring more staff — all aimed at making the system more reliable and resilient.
Within a week, nearly 500 public comments were filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission — an avalanche of public comments compared to past participation. Ratepayers have continued to speak up online, flooding the PUC with hundreds of comments opposing the rate increase.
And last week, dozens of ratepayers turned out to protest the proposal for higher rates at a public hearing in Freeport.
Among those in attendance was former state Democratic lawmaker Seth Berry, who serves as executive director of Our Power, a Maine energy nonprofit. He said CMP already makes enough of a profit to cover its own costs. Central Maine Power is a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational energy company Iberdrola.
"Yes, we all know we need to invest in the grid," he said. "But where should the money come from? Should the money come from the profits of the company, which right now are about $200 million a year that we're sending out of the country? Or should they come out of the pockets of Maine people?"
John Hafner of Old Orchard Beach runs a local Veterans of Foreign Wars outpost. He said he's worried rate increases would substantially affect his organization's ability to deliver on its mission.
"Our [electric] bill is disgustingly high. It's unbelievable how much we pay, and we could be giving that to the actual veterans in our community," he said. "This would kill us."
Dustin Wlodkowski, a spokesperson for Central Maine Power, said the utility tried to factor affordability into the rate change proposal. He said the proposed plan includes necessary, substantial upgrades to the grid, including the installation of secondary and backup lines into neighborhoods and installing smart devices that can reroute power along the backups should a line go down.
Wlodkowski said now is a key time to make upgrades to the grid to handle increasing demand from a growing population and new green energy technology.
"If we don't act now, as more Mainers adopt EVs and heat pumps, everybody will be paying more in the future," he told Maine Public.
The utility’s proposal is to raise its annual revenue by $450 million in order to hire hundreds of new employees and make the upgrades.
Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn said the outpouring of opposition to the proposal should tell the utility that its plan is just too expensive.
“People are really struggling with affordability so for CMP to put forward a case as large as they have seems like a bit of an overstep on their part,” she said. "We’ve heard from folks that are struggling to pay for their bills, their groceries, and are really worried about their neighbors. That was the theme that really struck me."
This past week, Gov. Janet Mills' administration urged the Public Utilities Commission to dismiss the rate case all together, calling the CMP proposal “premature” and “contrary to law.”
Under a 2022 law, electric utilities are required to submit 10-year plans for cost-effective ways to transition to a clean, affordable and reliable electric grid, the Department of Energy Resources argued in its motion to dismiss the rate case.
Given this rule, CMP proposing a rate increase before filing their 10-year grid resilience plan is “jumping the gun,” the energy department argued.
CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said in a statement that the company is reviewing the motions and would file a response by a deadline later this month.
~ Reporting by Peter McGuire and Molly Enking
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For those who are newly subscribed, welcome! In phase in/phase out, we look at ways we can take action on the climate crisis into our own hands — and how, collectively, individuals can actually move the needle.
It can be easy to feel hopeless in the face of a problem of such scale. But scientists say there’s still time to reach the ambitious Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5C — and that every single percentage of emissions curbed will make a difference, saving lives and preventing further catastrophic warming.
With the end of the year and the holidays looming around the bend, we’re quickly approaching the busiest travel season of the year. If you’re booking regional air travel, you might consider… not? There are the typical overbooking, weather and other travel delays to contend with. Then there’s the fact that any other form of travel would be more sustainable.
Studies show that avoiding air travel is one of the most effective ways individuals can contribute to fighting climate change. Air travel makes up about 3% of U.S emissions. Every hour of travel (in a Boeing 737) consumes around 750 gallons of jet fuel.
Flying contributes to climate change in ways other than greenhouse gas emissions, too. When planes make contrails — those white lines you sometimes see cutting across the sky behind a plane — that water vapor and other substances can trap heat in the atmosphere.
While 3% of U.S. emissions may not seem like a huge number, consider that it’s actually a quite small number of people who are flying. Right now, only about half of Americans take one flight per year, and only around 10-15% fly regularly. That means, if those numbers increase, emissions shoot up exponentially.
Emissions from planes are rising quickly — they increased by 32% between 2013 and 2018. Total passenger numbers are projected to double in the next 20 years.
In response to all this, some are swearing off air travel completely. But for those with family scattered across the country, this may not be entirely possible. Here are some other steps you can take:
- Look for public transit options first: Between driving to the airport, arriving 1.5-2 hours early, and going through security, oftentimes taking the train, the bus or driving will take almost the same amount of time as flying, depending on where you are.
- Embrace the slow travel movement. Modern air travel has made jumping from country to country in a few days possible. Slow travel values the opposite: choosing one place to visit and staying there for the entire vacation. In addition to being the more sustainable way to travel, this allows the traveller to engage meaningfully in the local culture and economy. It can also be more relaxing!
- Beware the carbon offset. Some airlines and travel companies claim to offer “carbon neutral” trips through something like planting trees or other means to cancel out the emissions of a flight — but a 2023 study by the Guardian found many of these programs to be completely worthless. There is much to be written about this vast, confusing carbon market, but for now, regard with skepticism — some may be legitimate, but many are greenwashing.
- Take a staycation. There are beautiful beaches, lakeside inns, mountain towns and more than 4,500 islands in Maine to explore. And local travel is hands down more sustainable than flying to a far-away destination. There are also lively, interesting places within driving distance of Maine. With a 4-5 hour car journey (or a train ride!) you could end up in Quebec City (and feeling very European); within a six hour car journey, you could be in New York City, sampling some of the best art, culture and fashion in the world — as well as pretty much any international cuisine.
Transit can account for 50–97.5% of the overall emissions impact of most vacations. Cut air travel from the equation, and a trip starts looking greener and greener.
So are we saying, in order to save the planet, don’t go home for the holidays? Absolutely not (unless you want this as an excuse, and then, absolutely 😉). But if you can turn that overbooked flight into a road trip, it’s kind of a win-win.
Till next time,
Molly
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