HOUSTON, Feb. 9�Power bills for more than 11,000 medium and large commercial customers in Maine buying electricity from Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a unit of Energy East Corp., will rise 29.5% on March 1 because of higher wholesale energy costs.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved CMP's 12-month proposal to buy standard offer electricity for medium and large commercial customers. Standard offer service is the default energy supply for customers that do not select a competitive energy provider.
Affected medium-sized customers will pay a combined price of 12.97�/kw-hr�the standard offer rate of 8.52�/kw-hr plus a delivery charge of 4.45�/kw-hr�or about 25% more than last year. The new standard offer price for large businesses will be 7.95�/kw-hr, compared to last year�s price of 5.33�/kw-hr. These customers delivery charges range from 1.43-4.80�/kw-hr. The new prices will result in an average increase of 34%.
CMP's residential and small-business rates are still protected against price increases until March 2002. Because the standard offer was so low, almost none of CMP's residential or small business customers have switched to a competitive supplier, except those seeking power from so-called "green'' energy suppliers.
Last October, the commission issued a request for proposal seeking firms willing to supply standard offer service for CMP's service territory. In part, because of rapidly changing conditions in the electricity markets, the commission said it did not receive any acceptable proposals.
The Commission terminated the process Dec. 22, and directed CMP, Augusta, Me., to explore power supply arrangements that would permit the utility to serve as a standard offer provider. Maine's electric restructuring law removed CMP from the competitive supply business March 1, 2000.
