PORTLAND, Maine — Emera Maine has asked state regulators for a rate hike on the power lines it maintains to connect customers to the grid, in a move that would raise the average monthly bill by $2.40, or 3 percent, in 2017.
Alan Richardson, the company’s president, said in a regulatory filing that the request seeks to recover the costs of certain upgrades and compensate for lower energy use revenue.
Richardson said the drop in the company’s revenue tied to energy use is “attributed in large part to negative economic factors and continued energy efficiency measures adopted by customers.”
The request asks that the company’s total revenue requirement for its transmission and distribution infrastructure to be lifted to about $86.6 million, up from about $80 million, an 8.3 percent increase.
The rate increase would be shared by the company’s 159,000 customers across two service territories, one serving Aroostook County.
The rate increase of $2.40 per month for the average customer is calculated based on households using 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month.
Richardson and other company officials said in filings that Emera’s new Hampden operations facility, a new Acadia substation and associated power lines and a new customer information system all contributed to the increase.
He said the increase is not driven by increases in operating costs, with savings from changes to its retiree medical plan.
Richardson said the upgrades it wants to build into rates are necessary for the utility to provide reliable service. He added that distribution price increases have lagged currency inflation and said the increase would put the company’s distribution costs at 2007 levels.
The company and regulators are scheduled to have a preliminary meeting on the increase request on March 31.