Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

APPROVED                 CHAPTER
                                                                  JULY 26, 2023                 104
                                                                 BY GOVERNOR               RESOLVES
                                  STATE OF MAINE
                                           _____
                           IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
                      TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE
                                           _____
                                  S.P. 805 - L.D. 1971
    Resolve, to Ensure that Eligible Customers Receive Payments from the
                           Energy Rate Relief Fund
    Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
    Whereas, certain deadlines need to be extended before the expiration of the 90-day
period in order to ensure that eligible customers receive payments from the Energy Rate
Relief Fund; and
    Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now,
therefore, be it
    Sec. 1. Resolve 2021, c. 168, §4, amended. Resolved: That Resolve 2021, c.
168, §4 is amended to read:
    Sec. 4. Energy rate relief payments by covered utilities. Resolved: That, by
October 30, 2022 2023, each covered utility shall credit to the account of each eligible
customer the amount of relief payment to which the eligible customer is entitled under
section 5 unless the eligible customer is no longer a customer of the utility. By November
15, 2022 2023, the covered utility shall report to the department the total amount of relief
payments applied to eligible customer accounts and the total number of eligible customers
who received an account credit in each relief payment tier specified in section 5,
subsections 1 to 3. When a covered utility credits the relief payment to the customer's bill,
the utility may deduct that amount from the separate account set aside for purposes of this
section under section 3 and treat that amount as if it were a payment by the customer. Any
funds that a covered utility does not credit to an eligible customer under this section by
June December 1, 2023 must be returned to the Treasurer of State, who, by December 31,
2023, shall transfer the funds to the department.
    Sec. 2. Resolve 2021, c. 168, §5, first ¶, amended. Resolved: That Resolve
2021, c. 168, §5, first ¶ is amended to read:
                                    Page 1 - 131LR2513(03)
    Sec. 5. Energy rate relief payment distribution. Resolved: That the department
shall determine the amount of relief payments for covered utilities to credit to an eligible
customer based on the number of kilowatt-hours billed by the covered utility to the
customer on the February 2022 invoice or based on an alternative method as determined
by the department in accordance with the following relief payment tiers:
    Sec. 3. Resolve 2021, c. 168, §6, amended. Resolved: That Resolve 2021, c.
168, §6 is amended to read:
     Sec. 6. Energy Rate Relief Fund. Resolved: That the Energy Rate Relief Fund is
established for purposes of facilitating relief payments under this section. The fund consists
of all resources transferred to the fund by the State Controller under section 3 and funds
identified by the department to implement this section. The fund must be used to provide
relief payments to covered utilities or consumer-owned transmission and distribution
utilities under this section. The department may use the fund to provide energy rate relief
to eligible customers of a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility. Any
amounts remaining in the fund on June 30 December 15, 2023 must be transferred by the
State Controller to the department.
    Sec. 4. Resolve 2021, c. 168, §7, amended. Resolved: That Resolve 2021, c.
168, §7 is amended to read:
     Sec. 7. Review. Resolved: That, by June 30 December 15, 2023, the department
shall undertake a review of each covered utility to ensure that the relief payment under
section 3 has been credited to eligible customers or returned to the State in accordance with
section 4. If the department determines that any of the requirements of this section have not
been complied with, the department may issue appropriate orders to correct the
noncompliance or provide a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
jurisdiction over energy, utilities and technology matters recommending legislation to
address the matter.
    Sec. 5. Retroactivity. Resolved: That this resolve applies retroactively to October
30, 2022.
    Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation
takes effect when approved.
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