Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3209, sub-§§1-A, 1-B and 1-C are enacted to read:

1-A.__Rate design to be nondiscriminatory.__The commission shall ensure that the design of rates for the recovery of stranded costs pursuant to this chapter are nondiscriminatory between customer classes.__In meeting this requirement, the following minimum requirements must be met:

A.__The commission shall allocate stranded costs to all classes and to all customers within classes on the basis of demand or energy or both;

B.__The commission shall determine the demand and energy usage for each customer class in the same manner as it determines the demand and energy usage for all other customer classes;

C.__The commission shall determine the demand and energy usage of each customer within each class in the same manner as it determines the demand and energy usage of all other customers in that customer class; and

D.__The commission shall determine the allocation of stranded costs to each customer class in the same manner and subject to the same unit of measure for demand and energy as it determines the allocation of stranded costs for all other customer classes.

1-B.__Special rate discounts.__This section does not alter the commission's authority to approve special rate discounts for customers or customer classes pursuant to section 703 or pursuant to any alternative rate-making plan approved by the commission.

1-C.__Standby customer class.__The commission shall establish a separate class, or separate classes, for customers taking standby service.__The revenue responsibility of classes for standby customers must be determined in the same manner and subject to the same unit of measure for demand and energy as all other customer classes.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop electric utility rates in a manner that does not discriminate between classes of customers.