CMP Proposes to Reduce Customer Bills Beginning in July

If approved, CMP filings will lower bills by approximately $4 per month 

  

AUGUSTA, ME – April 17, 2026 – Central Maine Power (CMP), a subsidiary of Avangrid Inc., today announced it has submitted a one‑year rate proposal to the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). This filing follows CMP’s recent request for the MPUC to review its 2025 Annual Compliance Filing, which reduces the portion of current rates tied to extreme storms from 2023 and 2024.  

If approved by the MPUC, CMP’s combined filings would reduce customer bills beginning in July. The combined effect includes: 

  • A $4 decrease in monthly bills starting in July 2026 for a residential customer with average electricity usage. 

  • No increases to distribution charges for grid improvements for ten months, through April 2027. Any future adjustments would be subject to a full, transparent MPUC review later this year. 

“Today, we submitted a proposal that would reduce electricity bills starting this summer, striking a careful balance between affordability and reliable service. As customers face rising costs across many parts of their lives, this proposal would help ease electric bills,” said Linda Ball, President and CEO of CMP. “This plan also allows us to continue the progress CMP has made in reducing both the frequency and duration of outages. Frequent or prolonged outages can create real hardships for households, businesses, schools, healthcare providers, childcare centers, and others. Our focus remains on preventing outages whenever possible and restoring power more quickly when they do occur.” 

Proposed grid‑strengthening projects are located in every county served by CMP. Examples include installing 13 miles of covered wire in Mechanic Falls, Leeds, Auburn, and Lewiston, replacing substation transformers in Cumberland, Franklin, Kennebec, Lincoln, and Penobscot counties and projects in Monson and Guilford that add covered tree wire and create backup pathways to improve local power reliability. 

CMP’s proposal includes seeking refundable temporary rates that would apply on July 1 of this year and affects only distribution charges. Other components of a customer’s electric bill such as supply, transmission, storm costs for 2026, and public policy charges may change in the future and could affect total bill amounts. CMP does not mark up or benefit from supply or public policy charges.   

  • For example, in January 2026, electricity supply costs increased by approximately $11 per month for a residential CMP customer with average usage who selected the Standard Offer. These charges are paid to unregulated companies that generate the electricity CMP delivers to Maine residents and businesses through its grid infrastructure. This year’s Standard Offer providers are NextEra Energy Marketing LLC, New Brunswick Energy Marketing Corporation, and Constellation Energy Commodities Group Maine LLC.  

  

Included in CMP’s proposal are temporary rates, which would allow CMP to continue making critical grid investment while the full-rate proposal is under review. These rates account for system investments that are already in service, including work on individual substations and replacement of aged, bare wire with targeted sections of covered tree wire.  

As proposed, CMP’s one-year rate plan would limit distribution grid investment related price increases to no more than approximately $7 per month above today’s rates for an average residential customer between May 2027 and April 2028. 

  

To build upon CMP’s momentum improving service reliability, between May 2027 and April 2028 CMP is proposing to:  

  • Create 100 local jobs, hiring more than 35 lineworkers. This reduces CMP’s reliance on expensive, out-of-state contractors for storm repairs.  

  • Install thousands of stronger distribution/”streetside” poles. 

  • Install hundreds of new smart devices allowing fast, remote restoration.  

  • Expand tree care to reduce tree-related outages 

  • Make improvements at dozens of substations.  

  

The company anticipates a final decision from the Maine PUC later this year, subject to the commission’s review and approval. 

About Central Maine Power: Central Maine Power Company (CMP), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., is Maine’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. Established in 1899 and based in Augusta, Maine, CMP serves approximately 670,000 customers across 346 communities in central and southern Maine. It operates approximately 23,500 miles of distribution lines and 2,900 miles of transmission lines. Over the last decade, the company has invested approximately $3.5 billion in Maine system infrastructure. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com. 

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. is a leading energy company in the United States working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses across the nation through service, innovation, and continued investments by expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid has corporate offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon, and operations across 25 states with approximately $50 billion in assets. Avangrid owns and operates seven electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England. It also owns and operates nearly 100 energy generation facilities across the United States with a capacity of more than 11 Gigawatts, enough to power over 3 million homes. Avangrid employs approximately 8,500 people and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2026 for the eighth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the Iberdrola Group. For more information, visit http://www.avangrid.com.