Electricity Market Structure
In May 1997 an electric restructuring bill was signed into law in the State of Maine. The law required utilities to sell off their generation assets and allowed customers to choose an electric supplier. Since March 2000, residential, commercial and industrial customers have been served either on a standard offer service (SOS) rate or by a competitive supplier such as Constellation NewEnergy.
In Maine, the SOS rate is determined competitively as a result of an auction that is overseen by the Public Utility Commission. The State does not offer a default service or other similar rate. Customers who choose to leave their competitive supplier and return to SOS are required to remain on it for a period of a year once they return (some exceptions are permitted).
About Switching in Maine
To be eligible to switch, your company must be located in one or more of the service area territories of the following utilities:
- Central Maine Power
- Maine Public Service
- Bangor Hydro
The first step in switching your business' electricity service is completing a Letter of Authorization (LOA) form that allows Constellation NewEnergy to gather historical electricity usage data from your utility. This data is necessary to analyze your power consumption patterns and to develop a proposal that is customized to the needs of your business.
You will then sign a retail Electricity Supply Agreement stating the specific product your price for electric service and the duration of the agreement. After our agreement is signed, the enrollment process is simple. Our local operations team will work to provide a seamless transition from the utility as your electricity accounts are transferred to our service. Customers are generally switched to a competitive supplier on their next meter read/cycle date.
 authorization_new_england_utilities.pdf
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Why Switch?