New Maine utility law requires integrated planning to support state goals, sets penalties for reliability failures

Dive Temporary:

• A brand new vitality legislation in Maine requires electrical utilities to undertake an “built-in grid planning” course of each 5 years, and for these plans to assist the state’s objective of lowering greenhouse fuel emissions 80% by 2050, relative to 1990 ranges. Gov. Janet Mills, D, signed L.D. 1959 on Might 2.
• The legislation requires utilities to develop a number of demand forecasts, contemplate the locational worth of distributed sources, and analyze grid constraints which have slowed Maine’s means to interconnect extra renewables. As well as, utilities Central Maine Energy and Versant Energy may face penalties for failing to fulfill service requirements set by state regulators.
• Neither utility supported the brand new legislation, however every says it’s dedicated to offering dependable electrical service. Each of Maine’s investor-owned utilities fared poorly in a nationwide customer support survey final 12 months.

Dive Perception:

Central Maine Energy, which delivers electrical energy to many of the state, was ranked final within the 2021 J.D. Energy nationwide buyer satisfaction survey. Versant fared barely higher, however ranked final within the area for mid-sized utilities.

“Maine’s utilities have been simply all-time low, when it comes to their efficiency, over the previous a number of years,” in response to Jack Shapiro, local weather and clear vitality program director for Pure Sources Council of Maine.

The brand new legislation directs the Maine Public Utilities Fee to set minimal service requirements and says the fee “shall impose an administrative penalty on a transmission and distribution utility in an quantity that doesn’t exceed $1,000,000 or 10% of its annual gross income” for failing to fulfill these requirements.

“There’s an actual urge for food for actually attempting to carry utilities accountable for delivering the fundamental companies that individuals count on,” Shapiro stated.

Versant in a press release stated it expects to be held to excessive requirements and is “as much as the problem of assembly service metrics” aligned with buyer wants and state coverage.

The utility added, “nonetheless, we predict it’s vital to make sure these service metrics characterize what’s really vital to our prospects and we’re capable of meet these metrics whereas preserving service reasonably priced for our prospects.”

Central Maine Energy has “all the time been held accountable to efficiency expectations and charge plans by the Maine Public Utilities Fee,” the utility stated in a press release, including that it’s going to “proceed to give attention to doing the planning and work wanted to construct and preserve the grid, whereas assembly each day buyer wants for service and reporting on our efficiency.”

Whereas the invoice consists of accountability provisions, its bigger focus is on grid planning. Built-in grid planning “has been a precedence for numerous years,” stated Shapiro, and was beneficial within the state’s local weather motion plan finalized in December 2020. A facilitated stakeholder course of on grid modernization additionally beneficial a holistic strategy to grid planning.

An built-in strategy to grid planning may assist develop the state’s group photo voltaic program. Central Maine Energy has confronted criticism over delayed interconnection research, and in January agreed to a settlement that included hiring contractors to assist pace the method.

Maine handed a group photo voltaic invoice in 2019 however whereas prospects signed up, they don’t seem to be seeing any financial savings as a result of “these tasks aren’t being interconnected,” stated Shapiro. “They usually’ve been pushing numerous [interconnection] prices to builders.”

The brand new legislation directs utilities to develop a variety of grid situations each 5 years, together with the potential for top progress in electrification, excessive distributed vitality penetration, and insurance policies and investments wanted to facilitate the vitality transition. The PUC can then take that evaluation and use it in charge instances or different proceedings “to assist draw this all beneath one strategic plan,” stated Shapiro.

For Maine, that’s the Local weather Motion Plan, which has interim objectives to cut back greenhouse fuel emissions 45% by 2030, relative to 1990 ranges. Requiring utility built-in planning processes to assist obtain state objectives is exclusive, stated Shapiro.

“We predict we’re the one state that has performed this,” he stated. “We consider that that is actually going to have a constructive influence on the general price of our grid transition.”