Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3504, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. A, §88 and affected by §§104 and 105, is further amended to read:

1. Exemption. Upon request of a consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility of not more than 150 customers, the commission may shall exempt the utility from any of the requirements of any commission rules and this Title, with the exception of sections 3502 and 3503.

SUMMARY

Under current law, the Public Utilities Commission is authorized to exempt certain small consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities from all but 2 of the provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A. In its Order dated July 29, 1999 in Docket Nos. 98-599 and 98-671, the Public Utilities Commission declined to issue such an exemption requested by the Isle au Haut Electric Power Company ("IAH"), stating that "[t]o the extent that IAH believes that it should be totally deregulated, the appropriate forum for such action is the Maine Legislature." This bill removes the commission's discretion and instead directs the commission, if requested by the utility, to exempt small consumer-owned transmission and distribution utilities from those provisions of Title 35-A.