Maine State Lawmaker Proposes Bill Allowing Choice of Single Power Provider for Municipality

Maine House lawmaker Diane Denk, a Democrat, introduced legislation on April 11 that would establish a process to enable a municipality, which is served by two transmission and distribution utilities, to choose one of them to meet all its power needs. (LD 1542)

To make the choice, the municipality would hold a referendum made by a majority vote of its officials during a gubernatorial or presidential election in November. Regulators would approve the selection if the chosen utility is willing to serve the entire municipality and has the financial ability to pay for the assets that the other utility had been using to supply the municipality. Upon regulatory approval, the second utility would have to sell those assets to the selected power supplier.