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State's House, Senate Both Pass Bill Allowing Opt-Out Municipal Aggregation, Awaits Action by Gov.
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The Maine House and Senate both this week passed to be enacted LD 2112 (HP 1427) which would allow municipalities and certain tribes to conduct opt-out electricity aggregation
LD 2112 awaits action by the governor
LD 2112 would provide that municipal aggregations (which may be a single municipality or a group municipalities) must receive approval from the PUC to commence opt-out aggregation. The bill would authorize the Houlton Band of Maliseet
Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the Penobscot Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe to form opt-out CCAs with the same authority as municipalities
Retail supplier customers would be excluded from opt-out enrollment onto municipal aggregation
The following customers would also be excluded from opt-out enrollment onto a CCA:
• Customers participating in net energy billing pursuant to section 3209-A or 3209-B;
• Customers participating in a front of the meter distributed energy resource program pursuant to section 3209-I; and
• Customers receiving financial assistance for low-income households in accordance with
section 3214, subsection 2, or participating in an arrearage management program
pursuant to section 3214, subsection 2-A.
Furthermore, CCAs would not be permitted to serve certain financial hardship customers, even on an opt-in basis, if the CCA's rate exceeds the utility Standard Offer rate. Specifically, a customer receiving financial assistance for low-income households in accordance
with section 3214, subsection 2, or participating in an arrearage management program
pursuant to section 3214, subsection 2-A, may not receive electricity supply under a
community choice aggregation program if the customer would pay a supply rate under
the community choice aggregation program that is at any time higher than the default
service supply rate.
Notably, a CCA may elect not to provide service to a
customer under a community choice aggregation program based on the customer's utility payment history.
LD 2112 would grant the Maine PUC broad powers to adopt rules governing municipal aggregations
Among other things, L.D. 2112 requires the PUC to adopt CCA rules governing, "consumer protection and transparency requirements".
More specifically, the bill directs that the PUC shall adopt rules requiring CCAs to conduct targeted outreach, "to ensure that customers are aware of their rights, benefits
of the community choice aggregation program and opt-out options."
The bill does not prescribe specific consumer protection details, such as length of the op-out period, etc, leaving such to the PUC
L.D. 2112 also requires the PUC to establish, by rule, a process to ensure that investor-owned utilities will not bear any costs to implement the
requirements of the law enabling CCAs
Such process "may include" a fee to be paid by a CCA, or the CCA's consultant or supplier, to ensure that a utility does not bear costs related to implementing CCAs, L.D. 2112 provides
Under the bill, the PUC, by rule, shall also adopt provisions to, "minimize to the greatest extent practicable," impacts to default service
In light of L.D. 2112 passing both houses, the Maine PUC denied a petition from NRG Energy which had requested that the PUC, under existing law, develop rules to implement opt-out aggregation, which NRG has argued its authorized under current statute (Docket No. 2026-00036)
See background on NRG's petition here
The PUC said that, given the pending legislation, opening a rulemaking under current law, as sought by NRG, would be, "administratively inefficient and risk confusion among those parties to whom the legislation and proposed rules would apply".
The PUC noted that, should L.D. 2112 fail to become law, NRG would be free to refile its request to open a CCA rulemaking proceeding.
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April 10, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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