Maine electric ratepayers could get refunds for 15 years of overpaying for power transmission
Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published March 30, 2026 at 7:03 PM EDT
New England electric customers including Maine ratepayers could get more than $1 billion in refunds after federal energy regulators ruled this month that transmission utilities were paid inflated profits for years.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission draws to a close a case against the utilities that was first filed in 2011, said Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn.
"We're hopeful that transmission rates will come down as a result of this ruling and also that 15 years of overpayments will eventually be refunded to customers through their rates," Sanborn said.
Electric customers pay for transmission of power from generators such as power plants to local distribution lines. Transmission is owned by the same companies that distribute power, and earn profit from their infrastructure investments, including Central Maine Power and Versant Power, Sanborn said.
Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2026-03-30/maine-e...
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Comment by Dan McKay 5 hours ago
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So, a regulartory agency(FERC) can retroactivate and lower rates of returns and make companies rebate customers. Why the hell isn't the PUC, a regulatory agency, examining the rates of returns received from net energy billing companies, power purchase contracted companies and incentivized renewable energy companies and determining if their rates are reasonable and whether profits are overly inflated? Why does the OPA say nothing about the gross profits these renewable companies strip from electric customers? Where are the rebates owed? Why isn't Efficiency Maine Trust examined for the obscene amounts of ratepayer money they spend? The OPA seems very selective on who they sue ?
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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