The vote in Hallowell was three to nothing. Central Maine Power wanted about seven dollars more a month from the average household this fall, and Maine's regulators turned down every cent of it. This is Power Bill, and for once I get to start the day in a decent mood. It won't last. Kerrville, Texas gets a ten-dollar bump in November, Michigan's attorney general goes after Consumers Energy, New Brunswick files for three straight years of increases, and Arkansas signs off on a gas rate settlement. Maine first. On Tuesday's show we said we'd report back on that vote, so here it is.
Ethan Horton, writing in the Portland Press Herald:
Maine utility regulators denied Central Maine Power Co.’s request for almost $70 million in increased rates on Tuesday, a major win for advocacy groups that means bills will not increase this fall.
Unanimous. And the reason matters. Under Maine law, a temporary rate only goes in if the amount isn't disputed. The Office of the Public Advocate, the Department of Energy Resources and consumer groups disputed all sixty-nine point three million dollars of it. For your household: the request was about seven dollars a month on the average bill, and that's off the table. Current distribution rates are likely to stay put until spring, when the commission rules on the merits of CMP's full one hundred eighty-nine million dollar case. So this is a delay, not the last word. About two-thirds of the temporary ask was return on equity, which is to say shareholder profit. Commission chair Philip Bartlett pointed out that CMP overshot its capital spending forecast by about fifty percent from 2022 to 2025, and said that to some extent, this is a problem of CMP's own making. CMP moved before the vote. In the eight days after staff recommended denial, it pulled seventy job postings for line workers and customer service, paused upgrades to nineteen transformers between York and Rangeley, and told regulators it would have to consider workforce reductions. Seth Berry of Our Power, part of the Fight the Hike coalition, called delaying grid projects an attempt at blackmail. I'd say it a little more politely, but only a little. Chief executive Linda Ball says no decisions on workforce levels have been made.
Jennifer Green, writing for The Cool Down and citing The Kerr County Lead:
Kerrville Public Utility Board customers in Texas will see a flood-delayed rate increase reflected in their monthly electric bills starting Nov. 1. A typical residential customer is expected to pay about $10.41 more each month, though KPUB said its prices will still sit well below the Texas average.
That's Sunday, November 1st. A home using a thousand kilowatt-hours goes from roughly a hundred ten dollars under the August rate to a hundred twenty dollars and forty-one cents. Nine and a half percent. Here's where it shows up on the bill. The monthly customer charge goes from fifteen twenty-five to sixteen seventy-five. The distribution charge rises from 1.680 to 2.088 cents a kilowatt-hour, and the fixed portion of the power supply charge from 4.060 to 4.543 cents. A dollar fifty more on the customer charge, which you pay even if you never flip a switch. Fixed charges land hardest on the smallest users. That's the line I'd circle. In KPUB's favor: it held off on these changes after the July 4th, 2025 flood so the community could recover. The increase came through its board of trustees in the fiscal 2027 budget. One caution. KPUB's power cost adjustment moves with its real-time power costs, so ten forty-one is an estimate. Your November bill could land above or below it.
From New Media Detroit:
Consumers Energy is asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve approximately $456 million in additional annual electric revenue, a request that would increase residential electric rates by approximately 9.8%, according to the Attorney General’s office.
I'll be straight about the math. None of this coverage turns that 9.8 percent into a monthly dollar figure for a typical home. And Consumers' 1.9 million customers include businesses, so dividing the total by that number wouldn't give you a household figure. What's new is the pushback. Attorney General Dana Nessel filed testimony last week saying the commission should cut the request by fifty-three percent and hold Consumers' return on equity to 9.2 percent. The company wants 10.25. It's allowed 9.9 today. Commission staff recommends 9.85 percent. ABATE, a group of large customers, says no more than 9.45. Now the timing. The commission approved a two hundred seventy-six million dollar increase for Consumers in March. According to the AG's office, the company announced it would go for another one seven days later. And Nessel's own forecast is that the commission will, her words, simply split the difference. The docket comments show what that's like at home. Elise Ensing wrote that her household used less power this August than last August, and the bill still went from four hundred eighty dollars and twenty-two cents to five hundred thirteen forty-eight. Still a proposal. The commission decides how much Consumers gets, if anything.
John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative reporter for the Telegraph-Journal:
If the 5.5 per cent increase goes through next April, the average household can expect to pay an extra $13.25 a month, or $159 a year.
Those are Canadian dollars, for a home using 1,350 kilowatt-hours, according to NB Power's application. Five and a half percent a year for three years, closer to five hundred dollars a year by the end. And most people there depend on electric heat. NB Power filed Wednesday with the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board. It's proposed, and no hearing dates are set. The paper notes that in recent years the board has trimmed NB Power's requests rather than turning them down. Chief executive Lori Clark points to inflation and an infrastructure deficit left by past rate freezes. Nichola Taylor of Acorn says people will give up food or prescriptions to stay warm, and wants the province to cap rates. Two smaller pieces matter if you're behind on your bill. The filing would cut connection and reconnection fees from about seventy-six dollars to nine for customers with smart meters. And Clark says NB Power will decide before the end of the year whether to renew last winter's pause on disconnections. A cheaper reconnection is nice. I'd rather hear that the winter shutoff pause is staying.
Sydney Sasser, writing in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
Residential customers of Black Hills Energy Arkansas could see an 8.6% rate increase on their bills next month, about $6.38 for those using 49 Ccf of natural gas.
This one's a gas bill, not electric, but it's a final commission decision on a household charge. The Arkansas Public Service Commission approved a settlement between Black Hills and commission staff last Friday. Black Hills had asked for about twelve percent, or eleven dollars and twelve cents a month, and wanted the customer charge raised to twenty-eight dollars. The settlement sets it at seventeen sixty-seven, up from fifteen fifty-one. So the fixed charge still climbs more than two dollars. Better than twelve and a half, but it's still going up. The piece I'd watch is the billing determinant adjustment rider. It lets Black Hills collect more when customer counts or gas volumes fall. The attorney general's witnesses pointed out it never gave anything back when the customer base grew. The commission ordered a redesign that works both ways, crediting customers when revenue beats the target, filed within six months. About time. A rider that only moves one way isn't a true-up, it's a ratchet. Context for the bill itself: the Storm Uri gas charge expired May 31st, which by the filings cut residential bills about ten ninety-one a month from where they were when Black Hills filed in December. So November's increase lands on a bill that has already come down.
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Dates for your calendar: interventions close October 16th in Liberty's Missouri fuel case, Appalachian Power's Virginia public hearing is Monday, October 19th, and Kerrville's new rates hit November 1st. We're back Friday with whatever moves next. You've been listening to Power Bill, a Lantern Podcast.