Legislative Document No. 1646 H.P. 1181 House of Representatives, April 25, 2019
An Act To Restore Local Ownership and Control of Maine's Power Delivery Systems
Reference to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT Clerk
Presented by Representative BERRY of Bowdoinham. Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook and Representatives: DOUDERA of Camden, GROHOSKI of Ellsworth, HUBBELL of Bar Harbor, KESSLER of South Portland, RYKERSON of Kittery, Senators: LIBBY of Androscoggin, MOORE of Washington, WOODSOME of York.
Printed on recycled paper 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2 Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §12004-G, sub-§36 is enacted to read: 3 36. 4 Public Utilities Maine Power Legislative Per 35-A MRSA §4002 5 Delivery Authority Diem and Expenses 6 Board
7 Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §3501, sub-§1, ¶¶D and E, as amended by PL 1999, c. 8 398, Pt. A, §85 and affected by §§104 and 105, are further amended to read: 9 D. The portion of any municipal or quasi-municipal entity providing transmission 10 and distribution services; and 11 E. Any transmission and distribution utility wholly owned by a municipality.; and 12 Sec. 3. 35-A MRSA §3501, sub-§1, ¶F is enacted to read: 13 F. The Maine Power Delivery Authority established in chapter 40. 14 Sec. 4. 35-A MRSA c. 40 is enacted to read: 15 CHAPTER 40
16 MAINE POWER DELIVERY AUTHORITY
17 §4001. Definitions
18 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 19 have the following meanings.
20 1. Authority. "Authority" means the Maine Power Delivery Authority established in 21 section 4002.
22 2. Board. "Board" means the Maine Power Delivery Authority Board established in 23 Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 36.
24 3. Cost of service. "Cost of service" means the total amount that must be collected 25 by the authority to recover its costs but does not include any return on capital investment 26 unless a return is required as security for debt service.
27 4. Customer-owner. "Customer-owner" means a person to whom the authority 28 provides electricity.
29 5. Generating source. "Generating source" means a machine or device that 30 produces electric energy by any means.
Page 1 - 129LR0138(01)-1 1 6. Previous franchisee. "Previous franchisee" means an individual or entity having 2 any title or interest in any property, rights, easements or interests authorized to be 3 acquired by the authority under this chapter.
4 7. Utility facility. "Utility facility" means an item of plant used or useful in 5 providing transmission and distribution utility service and includes, but is not limited to, 6 transmission lines, office buildings, equipment and transportation equipment.
7 8. Utility property. "Utility property" means any tangible or intangible asset, 8 liability, obligation, plan, proposal, share, agreement or interest of a utility; any facility in 9 development or planning by the utility as of January 1, 2019; and, without limitation, the 10 entire utility and any part or portion of the utility.
11 §4002. Maine Power Delivery Authority established; board members
12 The Maine Power Delivery Authority is established to provide for its 13 customer-owners in this State reliable electric transmission and distribution services at 14 the lowest possible cost in accordance with this chapter.
15 1. Governance; board. The authority is created as a body corporate and politic and 16 a public instrumentality of the State and is governed by the Maine Power Delivery 17 Authority Board in accordance with this section. 18 The board is composed of 10 members, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the 19 Legislature, all of whom must be residents of the State. One member must be a 20 residential consumer of electricity, one member must be a representative of a commercial 21 consumer of electricity and one member must be a representative of an industrial 22 consumer of electricity. No more than 5 of the members may be members of the same 23 political party. The Governor shall appoint members as follows: 24 A. Five members residing in the service territory of the State that was served by the 25 investor-owned transmission and distribution utility serving the largest number of 26 customers in the State on January 1, 2000; 27 B. Two members residing in the territory of the State that was served by the 28 investor-owned transmission and distribution utility serving the 2nd largest number 29 of customers in the State on January 1, 2000; 30 C. One member residing in the territory of the State that was served by the investor- 31 owned transmission and distribution utility serving the 3rd largest number of 32 customers in the State on January 1, 2000; 33 D. One member chosen from a list of at least 2 proposed members provided by an 34 organization representing the consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities 35 in the State, other than the authority, serving at least 1,000 customers each; and 36 E. One member chosen from a list of at least 2 proposed members provided by the 37 executive board of a bona fide labor organization or an association of employees 38 representing at least 10% of the workforce employed by transmission and distribution 39 utilities in the State.
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