Statement on Unanimous Approval of CMP Rate Plan

AUGUSTA, ME — June 6, 2023 — The following statement was issued after the Maine Public Utilities Commission’s decision to unanimously approve CMP’s multi-year rate plan:

“We know Mainers are feeling the impact of high costs. This plan is designed to minimize the impact to our customers and create rate stability while allowing us to continue making critical reliability investments to our electric grid,” said Jon Breed, spokesperson for CMP. 

Key Points

  • This multi-year plan is designed to ensure that CMP can continue making progress towards improving the electric grid and meeting clean energy goals. Examples of these investments include automation updates that will allow us to minimize the number of customers impacted by an outage, improvements to our vegetation management practices, and upgrades to aging grid infrastructure. 
  • The average residential CMP customer can expect to see a 1% increase to their total bill in 2023, followed by an average 2% increase spread across 2024 and into 2025. The design of this plan is intended to enhance rate stability for CMP customers for the CMP portion of their electricity bill. 
  • Other major bill changes in 2023 included fuel supply (26% increase to total bill) and proposed stranded costs (7% increase to total bill). 

o    Fuel Supply: Customers typically utilize the standard offer, which is set by the Maine Public Utilities commission. CMP does not profit and is required by law to bill for this charge. 

o    Stranded Costs: These costs are largely the result of decisions made by the Maine legislature, including Maine’s net energy billing program and power purchase agreements. CMP does not profit and is required by law to bill for this charge.

  • This rate plan received support from the Office of the Public Advocate, AARP, Efficiency Maine Trust, IBEW Competitive Energy Services, IBEW, Walmart, and other parties. 

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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 646,000 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 cmpco.com.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $41 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs more than 7,500 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2023, Avangrid ranked first within the utility sector for its commitment to the environment. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2023 for the fifth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit avangrid.com.   

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