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On July 30, 2026 the Maine PUC issued a Notice of Inquiry regarding Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs to procure electricity in the state as required by a new law.

“The Act requires that the Commission initiate a rulemaking to implement the provisions of the Act no later than January 1, 2027. Prior to initiating the rulemaking required by the Act, the Commission seeks input from interested persons regarding suggested provisions for inclusion in a proposed rule that may be considered as part of the Commission’s future rulemaking.”

“Through this Notice and pursuant to 35-A M.R.S. § 3219, the Commission initiates an inquiry into possible requirements for community choice aggregation programs through which municipalities may aggregate the load of residential and small commercial customers to procure electricity on their behalf.”

As previously reported, “the Legislature enacted “An Act to Authorize Municipalities to Form Community Choice Aggregation Programs to Procure Electricity” (Act). P.L. 2025, c. 665. The Act created a new statutory requirement, which is codified at 35-A M.R.S. § 3219, governing the procedures by which a municipality or group of municipalities located in the service territory of an investor-owned transmission and distribution (T&D) utility may aggregate the electric load of residential and small commercial customers to procure electricity on their behalf. The Act also provides that federally recognized Indian tribes in the State may establish community choice aggregation programs. In addition, the Act requires that prior to a community choice aggregation program being implemented, the program plan must be approved by the voters in the municipality or municipalities, the legislative body or governing board of each municipality, and the Commission. The Act establishes requirements for customer notifications and protections and directs the Commission to adopt rules to implement the Act, including rules governing community choice aggregation program approvals, opt-in and opt-out procedures, and consumer protection and transparency requirements.”

The Commission invites general comments from interested persons regarding provisions which should be included in the Commission’s proposed rule.

Commenters are encouraged to provide additional comments and suggestions that may assist the Commission in this Inquiry. Comments are due on or before Friday August 21, 2026.

Specifically, the Commission requests comments from interested persons on the following questions:

1. In addition to the defined terms included in subsection 1 of Section 3219, what other defined terms should be included in the Commission’s proposed rule? Please provide proposed definitions for any such defined terms that should be included in the rule.
2. The Act allows municipalities to aggregate the load of residential customers and small commercial customers. How should the Commission define the terms “residential customers” and “small commercial customers” for purposes of its community choice aggregation rule?
3. What standards and criteria for approval should the Commission adopt for community choice aggregation program plans under subsection 2, paragraph of Section 3219?
4. To the extent known, please provide the anticipated timing through which a community choice aggregation plan would be developed and implemented. For example, at what point in the process will pricing be known? How long after the filing of a community aggregation program plan will Commission approval be needed?
5. How far in advance of the effective date of service under a community choice aggregation program plan should customer notice be required to be provided?
6. What should the process and deadlines be for customers opting out of a community choice aggregation program?
7. What should the process and deadlines be for customers not originally enrolled in a community choice aggregation program but subsequently opting into such a program? What account information should such customers be required to provide to the program suppliers and program consultants pursuant to subsection 5(F) of Section 3219?
8. Subsection 10(J) of Section 3219 requires that the Commission adopt rule provisions to minimize to the greatest extent practicable the impacts on default (i.e., standard offer) service. What rule provisions should the Commission develop in this regard? For example, should the timing of the implementation of any approved community choice aggregation program be coordinated with the timing of the Commission’s standard offer procurement processes?
9. Subsection 5(A) of Section 3219 provides that a municipality or group of municipalities may elect not to provide service to a customer under a community choice aggregation program based on the customer’s utility payment history. Should the Commission adopt parameters pursuant to which this right may be exercised, such as a minimum number of missed payments or a certain dollar amount that remains unpaid
10. Subsection 5(D) of Section 3219 provides that a customer may be unenrolled from a community choice aggregation program and returned to default service for nonpayment of electricity services provided under a community choice aggregation program. Should the Commission adopt parameters pursuant to which this right may be exercised, such as a minimum number of missed payments or a certain dollar amount that remains unpaid? Should this right apply to nonpayment of charges for generation service only or should it apply to payment for other energy-related products and services that may be offered to customers under subsection 5(H) of Section 3219?
11. How detailed should the Commission’s rules be regarding the technical requirements for the exchange of data between T&D utilities and program suppliers and program consultants? Should the Maine Electronic Business Transactions Standards set forth in Chapter 323 be applicable to the exchange of data regarding community choice aggregation programs? Other than the data set forth in subsection 7(C) of Section 3219, what other data should T&D utilities be required to provide to program suppliers and program consultants.
12. What changes would be necessary to the standard competitive electricity provider service agreement adopted pursuant to section 10 of Chapter 322 in order for that contract to be used for arrangements related to community choice aggregation? What process should the Commission use for developing such a contract?
13. Subsection 9 of Section 3219 provides that the federally recognized Indian tribes in the State may establish community choice aggregation programs in the same manner as municipalities subject to the Act. Will any additional or different rule provisions be necessary in order to allow the federally recognized tribes to engage in community choice aggregation?
14. What consumer protection and transparency requirements should apply to community choice aggregation programs? Should these requirements be similar to those set forth in section 4 of Chapter 305 of the Commission’s rules regarding competitive electricity providers?
15. What process should be put in place to ensure that T&D utilities will not incur any costs in implementing the requirements of the Act? Other than costs related to provision of customer data, what costs are expected to be incurred by T&D utilities in implementing the requirements of the Act?