Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §354, sub-§5, ¶G, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is
amended to read:
G. For a candidate for State Representative, at least 50 and not more than 80 voters;
and
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §354, sub-§5, ¶H, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is
amended to read:
H. For a candidate for county charter commission member, at least 50 and not more
than 80 voters.; and
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §354, sub-§5, ¶I is enacted to read:
I. For a candidate for member of the Pine Tree Power Company Board under Title
35A, section 4002, subsection 2, paragraph A, at least 300 and not more than 400
voters.
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1011, first ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 334, §2, is further
amended to read:
This subchapter applies to candidates for all state and county offices and to campaigns
for their nomination and election. Candidates for municipal office as described in Title
30‑A, section 2502, subsection 1 and candidates for the Pine Tree Power Company Board
as described in Title 35-A, section 4002 are also governed by this subchapter. The
commission does not have jurisdiction over financial activities to influence the nomination
or election of candidates for federal office.
Sec. 6. 35-A MRSA §1511-A is enacted to read:
§1511-A. Fitness to serve
The commission shall find a transmission and distribution utility with 50,000 or more
customers unfit to serve and shall require and ensure the sale of the utility, to be completed
within 24 months, if 4 or more of the following statements are true of the utility:
1. Customer satisfaction. The utility has been rated for 2 or more of the past 5 years
among the lowest decile of utilities of a similarsize for customersatisfaction on a nationally
recognized survey of United States utility business or residential customers;
2. Reliability. The utility has been found by the commission or by the United States
Energy Information Administration for 2 or more of the past 5 years to have overall
reliability in terms of outage minutes per year, with or without major event days, in the
lowest decile of utilities of a similar size in the country;
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3. Affordability. In 2 or more of the past 5 years, the utility charged residential
delivery rates reasonably estimated to be in the highest decile among utilities of a similar
size in the country, based on data from the United States Energy Information
Administration and based on the commission's analysis of average delivery rates as a
proportion of the average total bill for integrated utilities;
4. Employees. The utility has within the previous year contracted with a business to
perform work valued at more than $100,000 that could reasonably have been performed by
qualified, nonexempt employees of the utility;
5. Security. The utility owns critical infrastructure vital to the security and welfare of
the State and is presently owned, either wholly or in a part greater than 5%, by a government
that does not represent or govern the captive customers of the utility;
6. Customer obligations. The utility, due to its corporate structure, requires that
customers pay for the cost of the utility's corporate taxes, and also pay for shareholder
profits exceeding 10% on prudent capital investment in transmission infrastructure, with
little to no risk for poor performance;
7. Disaster assistance. The utility, due to its corporate structure, may require that
customers pay directly or indirectly for 90% or more of damages to the utility's assets
caused by extreme weather events, and may also deny the utility access to federal
emergency management assistance to reduce or eliminate these costs; or
8. Priorities. The utility, due to its corporate structure and fiduciary obligations, is
unable to place the needs of customers, workers or the State's climate and connectivity
goals ahead of the desires of shareholders to earn a profit.
Sec. 7. 35-A MRSA §3501, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2019, c. 311, §2, is
further amended to read:
D. The portion of any municipal or quasi-municipal entity located in the State
providing transmission and distribution services; and
Sec. 8. 35-A MRSA §3501, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2019, c. 311, §2, is
further amended to read:
E. Any transmission and distribution utility wholly owned by a municipality located
in the State.; and
Sec. 9. 35-A MRSA §3501, sub-§1, ¶F is enacted to read:
F. The Pine Tree Power Company established in chapter 40.
Sec. 10. 35-A MRSA §3502, first ¶, as amended by PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. A, §86
and affected by §§104 and 105, is further amended to read:
Notwithstanding section 310, any consumer-owned transmission and distribution
utility, except for the Pine Tree Power Company established in chapter 40, that proposes
to increase rates, tolls or charges by not more than 15% of the utility's annual operating
revenues or proposes to decrease rates, tolls or charges in any amount may elect to set rates
pursuant to this section and section 3503.
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Sec. 11. 35-A MRSA §3506 is enacted to read:
§3506. Voter approval conditioned on parity
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither utility debt nor the incurrence of
utility debt is subject to statewide voter approval, unless and until voter approval of utility
debt and of the incurrence of such debt is required equally for both investor-owned and
consumer-owned utilities operating in the State.
Sec. 12. 35-A MRSA c. 40 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 40
PINE TREE POWER COMPANY
§4001. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms
have the following meanings.
1. Acquired utility. "Acquired utility" means an investor-owned transmission and
distribution utility whose facilities or property are purchased or intended for purchase
pursuant to this chapter.
2. Board. "Board" means the Pine Tree Power Company Board established in Title
5, section 12004G, subsection 36.
3. Company. "Company" means the Pine Tree Power Company established in section
4002.
4. Cost of service. "Cost of service" means the total amount that must be collected by
the company to recover its costs but does not include any return on capital investment
unless a return is required as security for debt service.
5. Customer-owner. "Customer-owner" means a person to whom the company
provides electricity.
6. Generating source. "Generating source" means a machine or device that produces
electric energy by any means.
7. Utility facility. "Utility facility" means any portion of a plant used or useful in
providing transmission and distribution utility service and includes, but is not limited to,
transmission lines, office buildings, equipment and transportation equipment.
8. Utility property. "Utility property" means any tangible or intangible asset, liability,
obligation, plan, proposal, share, agreement or interest of a utility; any facility in
development or planning by the utility as of January 1, 2020; and, without limitation, the
entire utility and any part or portion of the utility.
§4002. Pine Tree Power Company established; purpose
The Pine Tree Power Company is established to provide for its customer-owners in this
State reliable, affordable electric transmission and distribution services in accordance with
this chapter.
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1. Company purposes. The company shall use its access to low-cost capital and its
ability to manage the electric transmission and distribution system in a manner that is not
focused on ensuring shareholder profits for the following purposes:
A. To deliver electricity to the company's customer-owners in a safe, affordable and
reliable manner;
B. To ensure excellence, timeliness and accuracy in billing, metering and customer
service;
C. To provide an open, supportive and competitive platform to develop and deploy
renewable generation, storage, efficiency and beneficial electrification technologies;
D. To assist the State in rapidly meeting or exceeding the climate action plan goals
established in Title 38, chapter 3-A;
E. To improve the State's Internet connectivity through more affordable access to
utility poles and other infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas of the State, as
defined in section 9202, subsection 5;
F. To advance economic, environmental and social justice and to benefit company
workers and all communities in the State;
G. To provide for transparent and accountable governance; and
H. To support, secure and sustain economic growth and benefits for the State.
2. Governance; board. The company is created as a body corporate and politic and
is governed by the Pine Tree Power Company Board in accordance with this section.
The board is composed of 13 voting members, 7 of whom are elected members and 6 of
whom are designated members chosen by the elected members. All members must be
residents of the State.
A. As of the last date for filing a nomination petition under Title 21-A, section 354,
each of the 7 elected members must be a legal citizen of the United States for at least
5 years, must be at least 21 years of age, must be a legal Maine resident for at least one
year, must be a resident of the area the member represents as provided in this paragraph
for at least 3 months and may not hold a state elected office. Each elected member
represents 5 of the State's 35 State Senate districts, as set out in Title 21-A, section
1203-B, as follows:
(1) One member represents State Senate districts 1 to 5;
(2) One member represents State Senate districts 6 to 10;
(3) One member represents State Senate districts 11 to 15;
(4) One member represents State Senate districts 16 to 20;
(5) One member represents State Senate districts 21 to 25;
(6) One member represents State Senate districts 26 to 30; and
(7) One member represents State Senate districts 31 to 35.
If during an elected member's term the member's place of residence as a result of
reapportionment is no longer included in the area the member was elected to represent,
the member may continue to serve the remainder of the term.
Page 5
B. The 6 designated members must be selected by the elected members. The
designated members must collectively possess expertise and experience across the
following 6 areas:
(1) Utility law, management, planning, operations, regulation or finance;
(2) The concerns of utility employees and other workers;
(3) The concerns of commercial or industrial electricity consumers;
(4) Electricity generation,storage, efficiency, delivery, cybersecurity, connectivity
or related technologies;
(5) Planning, climate mitigation, adaptation or the environment; and
(6) Economic, environmental and social justice, including the needs of lowincome and moderate-income persons.
C. Candidates for election to the board pursuant to paragraph A are eligible for funding
through the Maine Clean Election Act, in amounts and under terms commensurate with
those for candidates for the State Senate. The Commission on Governmental Ethics
and Election Practices, established pursuant to Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 33,
shall adopt rules to implement this paragraph. Rules must include, at a minimum, the
procedures for qualifying and certification and for allocation of distributions from the
fund and other provisions necessary to ensure consistency with the provisions of the
Maine Clean Election Act. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are major
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
D. Candidates for election to the board pursuant to paragraph A are subject to the
requirements of Title 21A, chapter 13.
E. The nomination of candidates for elected members of the board is governed by Title
21-A, chapter 5, subchapter 2, and the determination of the election is governed by
Title 21-A, section 723-A. The Secretary of State may adopt rules governing the
election of members of the board and shall consult with the commission in developing
the rules. Rules adopted under this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
3. Term of office. An elected member of the board serves for a term of 6 years and a
designated member of the board serves for a term of 6 years. An elected member serves
from January 1st to December 31st and a designated member serves from March 1st to the
end of February. A majority of members shall declare a vacancy on the board upon the
resignation, death or incapacitation of an elected member, in the event that a member is
absent without leave of the chair for at least half of all board meetings held in a 180-day
period or in the event of a member's gross and continual neglect of duty. If there is a
vacancy on the board of a designated member, it must be filled within 180 days in the same
manner as described in subsection 2, paragraph B, and the person selected to fill a vacancy
serves for the unexpired term of the member whose vacancy the person is filling. If there
is a vacancy on the board of an elected member, the board shall notify the Secretary of
State, who shall establish a deadline of no sooner than 60 days after being notified of the
vacancy to accept nomination petitions for a special election. A special election must be
held within 180 days of notification of the vacancy and declared in the manner prescribed
by Title 21-A, section 366. The person elected to fill a vacancy serves for the unexpired
Page 6
term of the member whose vacancy the person is filling. Designated members may be
reselected and elected members may be reelected.
4. Quorum and chair. Seven members of the board constitute a quorum. The board
shall elect from its members a chair and a vice-chair. The vice-chair shall serve as acting
chair in the absence of the chair.
5. Voting. Except as otherwise provided in this Title, all decisions of the board must
be made by a majority vote of the members present. Whenever possible, the board shall
attempt to achieve consensus among members.
6. Bylaws; due diligence. Prior to making a purchase price offer for any utility facility
or utility property, the board shall adopt bylaws, retain expert professional staff and
consultants, secure initial financing, conduct due diligence as it considers necessary and
develop a transition plan and a business plan for the company.
7. Board review. Four years after the first meeting of the board, the board shall review
the effectiveness of the company governance structure and shall report to the joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy and utilities matters the
outcome of this review. The report may suggest necessary changes to the governance
structure of the company. The committee may report out legislation pertaining to the
recommendations in the report.
§4003. Powers and duties; acquisition of utility facilities and utility property
1. Powers; generally. The company is a consumer-owned transmission and
distribution utility and has all the powers and duties of a transmission and distribution
utility under this Title, as affected by the provisions of chapter 35, within the service
territories of the investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities whose utility
facilities it acquires under this chapter.
2. Limits on company; generating property. The company may not own or operate
a generating source or purchase electric capacity or energy from a generating source, except
as the commission may approve in order to allow the company to maintain or improve
system reliability.
3. Private sector, competitive, performance-based operations. The company shall
contract by means of a competitive public solicitation the services of at least one qualified
nongovernmental entity, referred to in this chapter as "the operator" or "the operations
team," to provide cost-effective, private sector operations, maintenance, customer accounts
management and customer service and information and to assist as necessary in regulatory
affairs, capital planning and administrative services. The company may not contract with
an operator that has managed a company found to be unfit within the previous 10 years.
The company may contract with separate operators for each of the service territories of the
acquired utilities, or to meet discrete operations, maintenance or other requirements. In
requesting and evaluating bids pursuant to this section, the board shall consider anticipated
costs; professional, operational and managerial experience; familiarity with the systems to
be administered; and ability to improve customer service and employee morale. The
company may establish additional criteria for its solicitation and shall determine the period
and the specific terms of each operations contract. The commission shall review and
approve, reject or approve with conditions any contract between the company and an
operator before it takes effect. A contract with an operations team must reward proven
Page 7
performance, not the provision of capital, and must provide for the efficient and effective
fulfillment of the company's purposes under section 4002.
4. Retention of employees. The operator shall hire any person who was an employee
of the acquired utility at the time the company acquired the utility facilities who is a
qualified, nonexempt employee subject to collective bargaining agreements of the acquired
utility and may hire any other person who was an employee of the acquired utility with the
exception of those employees on the executive board of the acquired utility. To ensure
continuity and an experienced local workforce, the operations team shall offer to these
employees a retention bonus of 8% of annual gross pay for the first year of work and 6%
of annual gross pay for the 2nd year of work. This bonus must be payable on the earlier of
the anniversary of the date of hire by the operator and the date of a termination of
employment that occurs following the date of hire, as long as the termination is due to the
employee's death or disability, by the employer without cause or by the employee for good
reason. The operations team shall maximize opportunities for internal promotion,
additional staffing and on-the-job training for all employees and may not contract with
other businesses to perform work that could reasonably have been performed by qualified,
nonexempt employees of the operations team.
5. Rights of employees. The employees of the operations team retained to operate the
company's facilities are private employees. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, the company shall at a minimum accord all qualified, nonexempt employees and
their representatives the same rights as would an investor-owned transmission and
distribution utility. The operator may not limit or impair the ability and right of its
employees to strike or to engage in any work stoppage or slowdown and may not hire
replacement employees permanently during an employee strike. The operator shall notify
employee representatives of new hires and shall allow representatives of employees
reasonable accessto work sites during work hours. The operator shall assume all retirement
benefit obligations to the employees of and retirees of an acquired utility, unless these
obligations have remained with the acquired utility, its corporate parent or a pension plan
trust regulated by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The
operator shall honor and maintain the terms of any collective bargaining agreements in
effect at the time the company acquired the investor-owned transmission and distribution
utility for the remaining term of any collective bargaining agreement, except that, when 2
or more contracts exist, the employees' wages, salaries and benefits must be made
reasonably equal to the higher of those provided in the contracts or must exceed those
previously paid by the acquired utility.
Upon the conclusion of a contract pursuant to subsection 3, the company, in soliciting for
a new contract, shall give preference to service providers that agree to maintain or improve
the terms of the collective bargaining agreement in existence on the conclusion of the prior
contract.
6. Acquisition of utility facilities and utility property. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this Title, rules adopted under this Title or any other applicable law to the
contrary, the company shall purchase or acquire by the exercise of the right of eminent
domain all utility facilities in the State owned or operated or held for future use by any
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility, in accordance with this subsection,
and may also purchase or acquire by the exercise of the right of eminent domain in
accordance with this subsection any other investor-owned transmission and distribution
Page 8
utility property should the board determine such an acquisition to be in the interest of its
customer-owners. The company shall finance the purchase or acquisition of utility
facilities or utility property under thissubsection by issuing debt in accordance with chapter
9. The board may not purchase or acquire by the right of eminent domain any utility
facilities or utility property under this subsection until 12 months after the effective date of
this chapter or 6 months after the first meeting of the board, whichever is later.
A. Within 18 months after the effective date of this chapter or 12 months after the first
meeting of the board, whichever is later, unless further delayed to a date certain by a
vote of at least 9 members of the board, the company shall:
(1) Identify the utility facilities and any other utility property in the State owned
or operated or held for future use by any investor-owned transmission and
distribution utility to be purchased by the company;
(2) Determine a purchase price offer to be made for the utility facilities and other
utility property. The purchase price offer must include compensation for the cost
of preparing and submitting necessary regulatory filings, including but not limited
to those required by the federal Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission; and
(3) Deliver notice of the purchase price offer, including detailed description of the
utility facilities and other utility property to be purchased, to the investor-owned
transmission and distribution utility that owns, operates or holds for future use the
subject utility facilities and utility property.
By a vote of at least 9 members of the board, the company may delay by up to one year
the purchase of the utility facilities and any other utility property of one of the 2
investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities in the State and proceed with the
purchase of the utility facilities and any other utility property of the other investorowned transmission and distribution utility in the State. A delay approved by the board
under this paragraph may be renewed once in the same manner for up to one additional
year.
B. After the receipt of a notice of the purchase price offer under paragraph A,
subparagraph (3), the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may, within
30 days of the date of receipt, submit a counteroffer to the company. If the company
rejects the counteroffer, within 30 days of the date of receipt of the rejection the
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may petition the Superior Court of
Kennebec County to determine and order an alternative purchase price for the subject
utility facilities or utility property in accordance with this paragraph. The purchase
price determined by the court must include compensation for the cost of preparing and
submitting necessary regulatory filings, including but not limited to those required by
the federal Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. After the
filing of a petition by an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility under this
paragraph, the Superior Court, as expeditiously as possible, shall:
(1) Select, in consultation with the company and the petitioner, a referee or referees
with relevant expertise and capabilities to determine a recommended purchase
price for the utility facilities and utility property;
Page 9
(2) Complete a trial or hearing, as appropriate, for the presentation of evidence to
referees, who shall submit a recommended purchase price to the court; and
(3) Render a decision and, based upon the recommended purchase price submitted
under subparagraph (2) and any other information available to the court, order a
purchase price to be paid by the company to the petitioner for possession and
ownership of the subject utility facilities and utility property.
The decision of the Superior Court under this paragraph is appealable to the Law Court
as in any civil action.
C. The taking of utility facilities and utility property by the company is governed by
this paragraph.
(1) Notwithstanding chapter 65 or any other provision of law to the contrary, if a
petition is filed under paragraph B and if the company and subject utilities do not
reach an agreement, the company shall, after any appeals are resolved, immediately
take the subject utility facilities and utility property identified in paragraph A at the
final price rendered by the court.
(2) Notwithstanding chapter 65 or any other provision of law to the contrary, if a
petition is not filed under paragraph B and if the company and subject utilities do
not reach an agreement, the company shall immediately take the subject utility
facilities and utility property identified in paragraph A at the purchase price offer.
Within 45 days of the date upon which the purchase price is either mutually agreed upon
by the company and the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility or is finally
determined through the judicial process set forth under paragraph B, the investor-owned
transmission and distribution utility shall prepare and submit any regulatory filings
necessary to the transfer of subject utility facilities and utility property, including but not
limited to those required by the federal Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. If the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility does not prepare
and submit such filings within 45 days, the company may request that the commission
investigate the utility's failure to prepare and submit the filings. Upon such a request from
the company, the commission shall, in a timely manner, investigate the utility's failure to
prepare and submit the filings. If the commission finds the investor-owned transmission
and distribution utility unreasonably delayed or failed to prepare and submit the filings, or
failed to prosecute and pursue federal regulatory approvals of the transfer in good faith, the
commission shall direct the utility to do so by a date certain and may order other remedies,
including deducting the cost of preparing and submitting such regulatory filings from the
purchase price or otherwise preventing the utility from recouping the cost and requiring the
utility to pay for costs to other parties caused by the delay.
If at any time during the process prescribed in this subsection the company and either of
the investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities reach an agreement on the
purchase price of all utility facilities and utility property in the State owned or operated or
held for future use by that investor-owned transmission and distribution utility, the sale
may be finalized in accordance with that agreement.
The commission shall impose such conditions on the acquisition of all utility facilities and
utility property in the State owned or operated or held for future use by any investor-owned
transmission and distribution utility as it determines are necessary to protect the public
Page 10
interest during the period between the effective date of this chapter and the date on which
ownership and control are fully assumed by the company and the operations team. The
commission shall take all necessary actions to ensure that the investor-owned transmission
and distribution utilities and their owners cooperate fully, promptly and cost-effectively
with the company during the transition in ownership and control. The commission may
allow recovery by or reimbursement to the utility of necessary expenses associated with
the transition. At a minimum, the utility must be required to plan, construct, operate and
maintain facilities and to cooperate with customers, generators and other stakeholders to
the same extent that the commission would require of any transmission and distribution
utility and to provide the company such information as may be necessary to meet its
responsibilities under this Title, including but not limited to a detailed inventory of assets.
7. Existing obligations. All existing agreements, obligations and contracts, including
but not limited to long-term contract obligations and net energy billing agreements of an
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility, must be transferred to the company
and any counterparty to an agreement, obligation or contract shall accept the assignment of
the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility to the company.
8. Regional transmission. The service territories of the company initially remain in
the transmission system to which they belonged on the effective date of this chapter until
changed by majority vote of the board.
9. Names. The company may adopt one or more alternative or regional names to
distinguish its service territories or for any other purpose.
10. Rules. The company may adopt rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter
2-A for establishing and administering the company and carrying out its duties. Rules
adopted pursuant to this subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter
375, subchapter 2-A.
11. Bylaws. The company shall adopt bylaws, through the board, consistent with this
section for the governance of its affairs.
12. Consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities; application. This
subsection controlsthe treatment of consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities
and the application of law to the company.
A. This chapter may not be construed to affect the powers, authorities or
responsibilities of any consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility other than
the company created under this chapter. The company may not oppose the extension
of the service territory of a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility
existing prior to the effective date of this chapter to include the entirety of a
municipality in which the consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility
provides electric service as long as the company is reasonably compensated for the
assets and appurtenances required.
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other provision of law
to the contrary, the company is subject to section 310; section 3104; section 3132,
subsection 2-D; sections 3132A, 3132-B, 3132-C and 3132-D; section 3144; section
3210-C, subsections 3, 7 and 11; sections 3212 and 3212-B; and section 3214,
subsection 2A.
Page 11
13. Board staff; initial activities. The board shall hire qualified and professional
staff, including but not limited to a director or manager, chief financial officer, support staff
and legal counsel. Assistance and counsel may be provided to the board by the Office of
the Treasurer of State, the Office of the Attorney General, the Maine Municipal Bond Bank,
the Finance Authority of Maine, the commission, the Office of the Public Advocate and
any other state entity. All initial activities and expenditures of the board prior to the final
acquisition of utility facilities and utility property must be funded by short-term debt of the
company, to be retired in the initial financing and acquisition of the investor-owned
transmission and distribution utility facilities and utility property. Notwithstanding any
provision of the law to the contrary, debt incurred by the board for its initial activities and
expenditures is presumed to be prudently incurred on behalf of the customers of the
investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities and is recoverable in rates, except
where proven to be imprudent beyond a reasonable doubt. To the extent that the company's
initial activities are specifically attributable to one but not both acquired utilities, those
separately attributable costs must be recovered from ratepayers of the utility to which they
are attributable.
§4004. Cost-of-service rates
The rates and all other charges of the company must be sufficient to pay in full the cost
of service, including the cost of debt and property taxation.
§4005. No use of state funds or tax dollars
Debt or liability of the company is not a general obligation or moral obligation of the
State or any agency or instrumentality of the State other than the company, and neither the
State nor any agency or instrumentality of the State other than the company guarantees any
debt or liability of the company.
§4006. No debt or liability of the State
The company serves a public purpose in the carrying out of the provisions of this
chapter, but debt or liability of the company is not a general obligation or moral obligation
of the State.
§4007. Voter approval
Notwithstanding any other provision of law enacted on or before the date upon which
this chapter is enacted, if this chapter is approved by voters of the State at a statewide
election, debt or liability of the company is not subject to additional voter approval.
§4008. Property and income tax status
1. Property tax. Notwithstanding Title 36, chapter 105, subchapter 4, the company
is subject to property taxation pursuant to the laws of the State and must pay property tax
in the same manner as an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility. Rates
charged by the company must include sufficient amounts to pay property taxes due under
this subsection.
2. Income tax. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, income of the
company is exempt from all taxation or assessment by the State or any political subdivision
of the State. All bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the company
in accordance with chapter 9 are legal obligations of the company, and the company is a
quasi-municipal corporation within the meaning and for the purposes of Title 30-A, section
Page 12
5701. All bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness issued by the company are
legal investments for savings banks in this State and are exempt from state income tax.
3. Tax increment financing agreements. If an investor-owned transmission and
distribution utility acquired by the company is subject to a tax increment financing
agreement under Title 30-A, chapter 206, the company acquires the same rights and
responsibilities as applied to the investor-owned transmission and distribution utility under
the agreement.
§4009. Termination of the company
The company may not be dissolved or cease operations except by authorization of law
and only if all debt and liabilities of the company have been paid or a sufficient amount for
the payment of all debt and liabilities has been placed in an irrevocable trust for the benefit
of the holders of the debt and only if any remaining equity of the company is returned in
an equitable manner to the customers of the company.
§4010. Freedom of access; confidentiality
The proceedings and records of the company are subject to the freedom of access laws,
Title 1, chapter 13, except as specifically provided in this section.
1. Confidential records. The following records are designated as confidential for
purposes of Title 1, section 402, subsection 3, paragraph A:
A. A record obtained or developed by the company that a person, including the
company, to whom the record belongs or pertains has requested be designated
confidential and that the company has determined contains information that gives the
owner or a user an opportunity to obtain a business or competitive advantage over
another person that does not have access to the information, except through the
company's records, or access to which by others would result in a business or
competitive disadvantage, loss of business or other significant detriment to any person
to whom the record belongs or pertains; and
B. A record that contains usage or other nonpublic information regarding a customer
of a transmission and distribution utility in the State.
The company shall provide to a legislative committee, on written request signed by the
chairs of that committee, any information or records, including information designated
confidential under this subsection, specified in the written request. The information or
records may be used only for the lawful purposes of the committee and in any action arising
out of any investigation conducted by the committee, subject to protective order.
2. Exceptions. Notwithstanding subsection 1, the following are not confidential and
are public records:
A. Any otherwise confidential information the confidentiality of which the company
determines to have been satisfactorily and effectively waived;
B. Any otherwise confidential information that has already lawfully been made
available to the public; and
C. Impersonal, statistical or general information.
3. Disclosure prohibited; further exceptions. A board member, employee, agent,
other representative of the company or other person may not knowingly divulge or disclose
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records designated confidential by this section, except that the company, in its discretion
and in conformity with legislative freedom of access criteria in Title 1, chapter 13,
subchapter 1-A, may make or authorize any of the following disclosures of information:
A. If necessary in connection with processing any application for, obtaining or
maintaining financial assistance for any person;
B. To a financing institution or credit reporting service;
C. Information necessary to comply with any federal or state law, regulation or rule or
with any agreement pertaining to financial assistance;
D. If necessary to ensure collection of any obligation in which the company has or
may have an interest;
E. In any litigation or proceeding in which the company has appeared, introduction for
the record of any information obtained from records designated confidential by this
section; and
F. Pursuant to a subpoena, request for production of documents, warrant or other order,
as long as the order appears to have first been served on the person to whom the
confidential information sought pertains or belongs and as long as the order appears on
its face or otherwise to have been issued or made lawfully.
§4011. Annual report
By April 15th of each year, beginning no more than one year after the first meeting of
the board, the company shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the
Legislature having jurisdiction over energy and utilities matters summarizing the activities
and performance of the company in meeting its obligations to its customer-owners and its
responsibilities under sections 4002 and 4003 during the preceding calendar year and its
plans for the current year and subsequent 5 years. Each annual report must describe in
detail how the company's decisions, operations and use of low-cost financing have
supported and will support the State's progress toward the climate action plan goals
established in Title 38, chapter 3-A and how such financing has affected and will affect job
creation and gross state product.
§4012. Initial 5-year plan
Within 18 months of the date in which the company and the operations team fully take
ownership and control of all utility facilities in the State owned or operated or held for
future use by any investor-owned transmission and distribution utility, the company shall
submit to the commission for approval a 5-year plan to meet initial affordability, reliability,
decarbonization and connectivity goals.
1. Plan minimum requirements. At a minimum, the 5-year plan under this section
must also include a program to:
A. Establish lower rates for low-income residential customers;
B. Build across the State accessible, rapid charging infrastructure for electric vehicles;
C. Reduce make-ready and pole attachment costs for open-access fiber-optic cable in
unserved and underserved areas of the State as defined in section 9202, subsection 5;
and
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D. Make rapid investments in the distribution network to upgrade reliability and to
improve capacity for interconnections of new renewable generation and storage
facilities.
Sec. 13. Review of laws and report. The Public Utilities Commission shall
examine all laws that may be affected by this Act or need to be changed as a result of this
Act, including laws governing the Pine Tree Power Company as established under the
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 4002, and laws relating to investor-owned
transmission and distribution utilities that may be eliminated as a result of this Act. The
commission shall determine any modifications to lawsthat may be necessary or appropriate
as a result of this Act or to effectuate the purposes of this Act and shall submit proposed
legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
energy, utilities and technology matters no later than 6 months after the first meeting of the
Pine Tree Power Company Board under Title 35-A, section 4002. The joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy, utilities and technology
matters may report out a bill relating to the subject matter of this Act and to the
commission's report.
Sec. 14. Staggered terms of initial members of Pine Tree Power Company
Board. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 4002, subsection
3, the terms of the initial members of the Pine Tree Power Company Board must be
staggered as provided in this section.
1. The initial designated members of the board serve as follows, determined by lot by
those members after their selection: 2 members serve 6-year terms, 2 members serve 4year
terms and 2 members serve 2-year terms.
2. The initial elected members of the board serve as follows, determined by lot by
those members after their election: 3 members serve 6-year terms, 2 members serve 4year
terms and 2 members serve 2-year terms.
Sec. 15. Code of ethics; recommendations. On or before February 15, 2024, the
Office of the Attorney General shall submit to the joint standing committee of the
Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local government matters recommendations
regarding the establishment of a code of ethics applicable to the members of the Pine Tree
Power Company Board, as established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section
12004-G, subsection 36. After receiving the recommendations, the joint standing
committee may report out a bill related to those recommendations to the Second Regular
Session of the 131st Legislature.
Sec. 16. Effective date. That section of this Act that enacts the Maine Revised
Statutes, Title 35-A, section 1511-A takes effect January 1, 2025.