Bill to Limit Electricity Rates for Low-Income Mainers Set for Hearing

Maine lawmakers are now poised to consider a bill that would prohibit competitive electricity providers from charging more than the standard-offer service rate to customers receiving low-income assistance.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) would be authorized under this bill to adopt routine technical rules to implement this measure.

According to an Axios report from this past summer, Mainers saw the highest year-over-year increase in electricity costs nationwide between 2024 and 2025.

In just one year, from May 2024 to May 2025, Maine’s average residential energy costs increased by a staggering 36.3 percent.

Nationwide, there was an increase of just 6.5 percent during this same period.

[RELATED: Maine Has Highest 2024-2025 Energy Cost Increase With Staggering 36% Hike]

This bill, LD 2203, was introduced to the Legislature in compliance with a measure signed into law last year directing the Office of the Public Advocate to conduct a study “regarding rates and business practices of standard-offer service providers and competitive electricity providers.”

After receiving the office’s report detailing the findings of their study, the Energy, Utilities and Technology (EUT) Committee was directed to report out any pertinent legislation for lawmakers for consideration.

By putting this bill forward, the EUT Committee was not taking a stance on the proposal, only allowing the bill to be printed so it could be referred to the appropriate legislative committee for further consideration and deliberation.

A public hearing for LD 2203 has been scheduled for Thursday, February 19 at 10 a.m.stand in Room 211 of the Cross Building, located directly across from the State House.

Click Here for More Information on LD 2203

This is not the only bill related to electricity costs that is currently up for debate in Augusta.

Lawmakers are now poised to advance a bill that would exempt from state sales tax the sale and delivery of all residential electricity.

Originating as a proposal to establish a refundable tax credit worth as much as $600, LD 2078 has since been amended to a more straightforward expansion of the existing structure.

[RELATED: All Residential Electricity May Soon Be Exempt from Sales Tax in Maine]

The sponsors’ amendment offered by Rep. Kilton Webb (D-Durham) seeks to eliminate these qualifying categories, allowing the sale and delivery of all residential electricity across the board to be exempted from sales tax.

Following a February 10 work session, members of the Taxation Committee voted unanimously in support of an amended version of LD 2078, but they have not yet reported out their official recommendation to the Legislature.

During the work session, it was revealed that the loss of sales tax revenue from expanding this exemption could potentially total around $6 million annually based on recent estimates. An official fiscal note has not yet been published for the bill.

Although the original sponsor’s amendment proposed making the expanded exemption effective as of January 1, 2027, Sen. Bruce Bickford (R-Androscoggin) moved to push this up to July 1 of this year.

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