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This Amended Stipulation represents the full agreement among the stipulating parties to this amended stipulation that is offered to fully and finally resolve this proceeding.

Parties to the amended stipulation include Electricity Maine, LLC (EME), the Consumer Assistance and Safety Division (CASD) Staff of the Maine PUC and the Maine Office of Public Advocate (OPA). A Joint Memo In Support of Amended Stipulation was also filed.

The Amended Stipulation represents a compromise from litigation positions and addresses issues that were raised by Advocacy Staff, the OPA and Central Maine Power Company (“CMP”) during the proceeding and addresses the public interest concern raised by the Commission in its June 10, 2024, Order (the “June 10 Order”) that rejected a Stipulation filed by Electricity Maine and Advocacy Staff in this proceeding on February 14, 2024. The Stipulating Parties understand that CMP will neither support nor oppose the Amended Stipulation. 

As previously reported, the Maine PUC rejected the original settlement because the Commission found that the original settlement did not sufficiently ensure that Electricity Maine would not harm customers in the future.

The amended settlement is in response to a PUC order issued in June which rejected the original settlement.

The amended settlement aims to resolve a complaint from CASD against Electricity Maine regarding alleged violations concerning the requirements for renewals and renewal notices, for a set of customers who were moved from a fixed rate to a non-indexed variable rate at renewal. Among other things, CASD alleged that EME failed to provide renewal notices to the relevant customers, and had failed to include the highest and lowest price over the prior 12 months on such notices (EME has averred that, as the non-index variable rate was a new product, EME did not have any historical non-indexed variable rates when it began sending renewal notices to customers in August 2022, and it did not populate the high/low price on the renewal form.)

The $315,000 penalty under the amended stipulation aims to address the PUC’s concerns that the original settlement did not sufficiently deter EME, or other retail suppliers, from future violations.

The amended settlement also expands the customers eligible for refunds under the settlement, to about 20,000 current and former EME customers, from an earlier total of about 18,000. 

Customers eligible for refunds will include all customers billed under a non-indexed variable rate. Previously, the pool of eligible customers did not include customers moved to such a rate after June 2023, as there were no allegations of customer notice violations after June 2023.

Furthermore, the amount refunded to individual customers will be expanded. Originally, customers were to be refunded the difference between the cost of default service and EME service for their first two bills under the non-index variable rate. The amended settlement expands the period over which customers are eligible for refunds, to now be the first three bills after the customer was renewed onto a non-index variable rate.

Note that the amended settlement remains subject to approval by the Commission.

Excerpts from Amended Stipulation:
“The Commission’s appointed Advocacy Staff, including the Commission’s Consumer Assistance and Safety Division (“CASD” or “Advocacy Staff”), the Office of the Public Advocate (“OPA”) and Electricity Maine, LLC (“EME”), together referenced herein as the “Stipulating Parties,” hereby agree and stipulate as follows:

“The purpose of this Amended Stipulation is to resolve all issues related to the Commission’s above-captioned investigation, including to address deficiencies in the February 14, 2024 Stipulation that was filed in this proceeding (the “February 14 Stipulation”) and rejected by the Commission’s June 10, 2024 Order in this proceeding (the “June 10 Order”).”

“This investigation was opened by the Commission to determine whether EME “renewed small customers’ terms of service without providing the renewal notices required by Title 35-A and Chapter 305, and to further investigate whether Electricity Maine . . . is in full compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.”

III. RECOMMENDED APPROVALS AND FINDINGS
This Amended Stipulation is based on six key points to address issues that were identified during the investigation and the public interest deficiency in the February 14 Stipulation identified in the Commission’s June 10 Order. 

First, to address deficiencies alleged in the Amended Complaint related to notices EME sent to customers renewing them at non-indexed variable rates, the Amended Stipulation requires EME to issue refunds to a pool of approximately 20,000 prior and current customers of EME, estimated to cost up to $6 million for up to the first three billing periods of the customer’s non-indexed variable rate service.3 Although there were no alleged notice violations or deficiencies after June 2023, to provide customers additional benefits through this settlement the Company will issue refunds to all customers who were 3 The February 14 Stipulation provided for refunds for up to the first two billing periods to this pool of customers. renewed to non-indexed variable rates EME has already refunded customers more than $238,712, and the refund due to any customer because of this Amended Stipulation will be reduced by any amounts previously sent to that customer by EME related to nonindexed variable rate service. 

Second, to ensure that current EME customers that are on a month-to-month nonindexed variable rate product understand they have other supply options, EME will send them two separate initial notices providing an opportunity to transition from the variable rate product to a fixed-price offering from EME, Standard Offer service, or supply service provided by a different competitive electricity supplier. To ensure that customers remaining on non-indexed variable rate supply continue to understand their supply options, beginning in January 2026 and annually thereafter, EME will send a similar notice to all customers on non-indexed variable rate supply service for as long as EME continues to have customers on non-indexed variable rate supply service.  Customers that remain on non-indexed variable rates will also benefit from rate caps that have been negotiated through June of 2026. 

Third, to limit the number of customers renewed from fixed to non-indexed variable rate supply in the future, EME customers currently with a fixed-rate contract will be renewed at a fixed-rate contract subject to the 20 percent cap in Title 35-A, Section 3203(4- B)(C). 

Fourth, to address concerns related to customer service, EME will undertake specified procedures related to the escalation of customers who express an inability to pay 4 The February 14 Stipulation required only the two initial notices and no annual notices. The annual notices have been included in this Amended Stipulation to ensure that all customers on non-indexed variable rate service continue to understand their supply options. 12 their electric supply bill and undertake additional customer service representative training for representatives who serve Maine customers. 

Fifth, to address concerns expressed by the CASD related to certain renewal notices EME sent to customers, EME commits in this Amended Stipulation to specific practices when sending renewal notices generally, and with respect to future non-indexed variable rate renewal notices. 

Finally, in response to concerns raised in the June 10 Order that the February 14 Stipulation did not provide sufficient deterrent to EME and other CEPs from violating Maine statutes and Commission rules, this Amended Stipulation requires EME to pay an administrative penalty of $315,000.”  {***}

Amended Stipulation  (09/23/2024

2023-00024 (Opened 02/07/2023)
Public Utilities Commission Initiated Investigation Pertaining to Electricity Maine, LLC