About 100,000 Maine households are struggling to pay some of the most expensive electricity bills in the U.S., and costs are set to keep climbing in 2025, according to a state report released Monday.

The Electric Ratepayer Advisory Council urged state lawmakers to expand the Low-Income Assistance Program so greater benefits go to more low-wage households to “relieve the affordability gap facing them.”

The council, which evaluates the affordability of electricity in Maine and advises the state public advocate on how to promote savings, said in its annual report to the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee that low-income ratepayers in Maine pay on average about 8% of their household income for electricity. As a percentage of income, Maine’s low-wage households pay three times more for electricity than the average, according to the report.

Public Advocate William Harwood said he hopes the Legislature and other policymakers will consider recommendations to bolster financial assistance programs “and seriously address the crushing burden today’s high electricity prices have on low-income consumers.”

“We should never put consumers in the untenable position of having to choose between paying their utility bills and providing needed food and medicine for their family,” he said.

Costs are expected to rise next year by 7% for customers of Central Maine Power Co. and 4.5% for Versant Power’s Bangor Hydro District customers, Harwood said. A higher transmission rate approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the main driver of the higher costs. It fluctuates each year and is allocated among the six New England states, CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said.

The formula was favorable to Maine customers in 2024, resulting in a one-year $4 credit, which will expire next year, he said. The allocation for Maine increases in 2025 by about $4, resulting in an approximately $8 change for customers, he said.

The increase wipes out a slight decrease in the standard offer rate approved last month by the state Public Utilities Commission. The standard offer is the default supply price for nine of 10 residential and small-business customers who don’t contract for electricity with competitive energy providers. The second of a two-year increase approved by regulators in 2023 to finance improvements in CMP’s distribution system also takes effect next year.

CMP serves about 635,000 customers and Versant Power serves about 165,000 customers in Maine.

Transmission cost increases affecting Versant also take effect in January; the impact will be calculated in December, spokeswoman Judy Long said.

The Public Utilities Commission says eligibility for the Low-Income Assistance Program that helps qualified consumers pay for electricity costs is based on eligibility for low-income heating assistance and participation in state means-tested programs with a household income at or less than 150% of federal poverty guidelines.

For a single person, the federal poverty guideline in 2024 is $15,060 a year, and $31,200 for a family of four.

Electricity costs in Maine, and New England generally, are among the highest in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The average retail price of electricity in Maine was 20.84 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2023. The cost is due to several factors, including the volatile price of natural gas, which makes up most of the power used to generate electricity; limited access to natural gas pipelines compared with other regions, making it vulnerable to supply shortages when demand is high, such as in the winter months; and the transition to zero-carbon energy.

In contrast, electricity ratepayers in states such as Iowa, Kentucky and Louisiana pay less than 10 cents a kWh.

Higher electricity costs also are driven by competitive electricity providers, which are the retailers that sell to consumers who choose not to pay the standard offer rate set by the PUC, the report said. In 2023, more than three-fourths of residential customers of competitive electricity providers paid more than if they had purchased standard offer service, the report said. Low-income customers are disproportionately likely to respond to claims of energy savings in marketing by competitive electricity providers, it said.

From 2016 to 2023, the electricity providers charged Maine’s households $135 million more for electricity than what would have been billed by the standard offer, the report said.

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Blast from the past.

150-year-old love notes written by high school students were found in the floorboards of a school in Maine, according to Bangor Daily News.

Preservation contractor Lee Hoagland started working on the University of Southern Maine’s Academy Building in 2022, and over the course of a year he found hidden papers in a space between the first and second floors of the building built in 1806. 

The papers included love letters between former students of what used to be a private college preparatory school for children aged 10 to 17 for upper-class families.

“Ada, would’nt you like to swing after school? I will stop if you will. Will you? Write and say!” one of the notes reportedly said.

“My darling, why did…” another note read.

A different note said that a student named Belle Worcester “is a [prissy or pretty] girl.”

Worcester is mentioned several times in the notes, including in one that said, “We had a splendid time to (meeting?) last night, for Belle and I passed notes. We didn’t pass many though, for Mr. Lord was right behind us.”

Hoagland also discovered math equations, English conjugations and penmanship exercises in the school’s floorboards.

He saved the papers and gave them to associate professor Hannah Barnes.

The students also wrote expletives and insults about their teachers in the letters — proving teenage behavior hasn’t changed a century and a half later.

“The past is not as distant as we think it is,” USM historian Libby Bischof told the Bangor Daily News.

Bischof also addressed how one note featured a drawing of a teacher, Ms. Stevens, with a long, cartoon-like nose.

“What really struck me was the Miss Stevens cartoon because it was so crude. Not in crude in a lewd way, but crude like a really bad sketch,” she explained. “And I could tell Miss Stevens had really large eyes because that’s the defining feature.”

While students wrote things about their fellow classmates and teachers on paper back then, nowadays “it’s all text and Snapchat,” Bischof pointed out.

“We’re not going to have this for future generations,” he added.

According to Bangor Daily News, the old papers are currently being kept in USM’s Department of Art. There are plans to archive the notes in the school’s Special Collections.

The Waldo Theatre, located at 916 Main St., Waldoboro, glides into the holiday season with a visual feast of artwork by painter and mixed media artist Pam Smilow in her latest show, “Seasons of Maine.”

The exhibition showcases a collection of large-scale painting and mixed media pieces on canvas and paper.  Smilow will cover the gallery walls with a celebration of Maine through selected works from her Floating House series and Talking Trees Winter Clothes series, Dress series. Pam’s art is both bold and colorful with a whimsical simplicity that lifts the spirit.

“I’m excited to display a number of larger pieces at the Waldo Theatre for this show. I wanted this to be an immersive experience for the Waldo audience,” said Smilow.

Smilow is considered a local artist, splitting her creative time in her studios located in Maine and New York City.  “I draw heavily on childhood memories, on many personal experiences throughout the years, as well as my travels. Nature continues to be one of my biggest inspirations.”

Smilow describes her artistic motivation as seeking to create a little piece of beauty and a refuge from our busy and chaotic lives – an inspiration to do better and be better in the universe. She sees each piece of work as one step on a continuum, each painting not precious unto itself but as an ongoing journey. 

Widely exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe, Smilow has also been featured in a variety of media publications over the past decade including art, lefe-style and home décor publications.

Her online gallery can be found at www.pamelasmilow.com.  She also publishes a weekly blog called ‘Things We Love,’ which can be found at www.pamelasmilow.com/things-we-love. 

“Seasons of Maine” will be open to the public during the months of December and January. A pop-up gift section featuring scarves, tea towels, and other unique gifts created by the artist will be available for sale.  A portion of  each art sale benefits The Waldo programming.