An Act To Reduce Electricity Rates By Removing Limitations On The Ownership Of Generation By An Affiliate Of An Investor-Owned Transmission And Distribution Utility

LD 1358 removes restrictions that previously prevented investor-owned utility companies (like Maine's electricity providers) and their affiliates from owning electricity generation facilities, such as power plants. The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish rules ensuring affiliates operate independently, preventing unfair favoritism toward them, and protecting electricity customers (ratepayers). It also eliminates a prior rule requiring affiliate-owned generation to have had a long-term power contract by July 1, 2017, to participate in such contracts. This amendment changes the legal framework for utility affiliates' ownership of generation assets within Maine's electricity market.