A group representing customers seeks to understand why Central Maine Power is requesting higher returns than its parent company previously said is necessary.<\/p>\n
MAINE, USA \u2014 The proceedings over Central Maine Power\u2019s latest request for a rate increase have taken another unprecedented turn. On Wednesday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission asked the electric utility to hand over internal documents from its multinational parent company, Iberdrola, which could offer insight into how the company estimates how much it needs to earn to cover expenses and appease investors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis appears to be the first time that any multinational corporation in the U.S. has been forced in a rate case to divulge its own internal math,\u201d said Seth Berry, a former Democratic state legislator who now leads Our Power, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable clean energy in Maine and is participating in the case as an intervenor.<\/p>\n
The electric utility has asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission for permission to raise distribution rates<\/a> by an average of $18 per month for residential customers, which would increase the company\u2019s return on equity, currently capped at 9.35 percent, to 9.8 percent.<\/p>\n The Public Utilities Commission already rejected a previous, longer-term request by Central Maine Power in 2025, the first time the commission has outright rejected a utility\u2019s distribution rate proposal.<\/p>\n RELATED: Electricity customers voice concerns over CMP\u2019s latest rate proposal<\/a><\/p>\n Rate cases in Maine are run much like court cases, with various parties and intervenors arguing different sides and bringing in expert witnesses. One of those parties is CMP Ratepayers Unite, a group representing customers of the utility who oppose the proposed rate increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group, after some back and forth with the Public Utilities Commission, was able to use a recent Maine law granting compensation for intervenors to hire expert witnesses. CMP Ratepayers Unite hired Mark Ellis, the former chief of corporate strategy for the California utility Sempra. He has become a vocal critic of utilities\u2019 rate increases and high profits, publishing an influential paper on the topic in 2025<\/a> with the think tank American Economic Liberties Project, which advocates against monopolies.<\/p>\n Ellis went through Iberdrola\u2019s annual financial report for 2025<\/a> and found a financial analysis that used a discount rate \u2014 which approximates the rate of return expected or needed from an investment \u2014 of 6.26 percent for its U.S. electric and gas assets, which include Central Maine Power.<\/p>\n Last month, CMP Ratepayers Unite requested Iberdrola\u2019s internal documents laying out the math behind this number, seeking to understand why CMP asked for significantly more \u2014 a 9.8 percent return on equity \u2014 in its most recent request. Central Maine Power objected to this request, leading to a conference Wednesday before\u00a0<\/a>the Public Utilities Commission staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n This analysis of Iberdrola\u2019s finances \u201cis an entirely unrelated accounting exercise,\u201d said Sarah Tracy, an attorney at Pierce Atwood representing Central Maine Power. It\u2019s about Iberdrola\u2019s existing assets, not future investments, and does not have information specific to Central Maine Power, she said.<\/p>\n But Peter Murray, an attorney at Murray Plumb and Murray representing CMP Ratepayers Unite, argued that the analysis was potentially relevant because experts testifying in the CMP rate case are using a similar process to try to figure out the company\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no number that\u2019s been produced so far that\u2019s more relevant in this proceeding than CMP\u2019s parent\u2019s own analysis of the economic risk posed by this investment,\u201d Murray said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other math presented by Central Maine Power so far is based on other, comparable companies.<\/p>\n The requested information is a starting point that should be made available to the commissioners and shouldn\u2019t be closed off to inquiry at this early stage, Murray said.<\/p>\n After hearing the arguments from attorneys representing both sides, Nora Healy, the commission\u2019s presiding officer in the case, decided to overrule Central Maine Power\u2019s objection to sharing these documents. Healy said she hopes the company can share them within a day or two, and that some of the information can be shared confidentially under protective order.<\/p>\n By law, the rate of return a utility company in Maine can earn is supposed to be based on the actual cost of attracting investors, said Rebecca Schultz, senior advocate for climate and clean energy at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, in an email. Schultz is an intervenor in the case. The state PUC sets the rate of return for utilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n That cost \u201cis not an easy number for outsiders to guess,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat CMP will now be forced to make public are Iberdrola\u2019s internal documents, offering a glimpse of what CMP\u2019s owners estimate its cost of capital to be.\u201d<\/p>\n For more local stories continue with us on our NEWS CENTER Maine+ streaming app.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n