(1)__That municipality adopts a "negative-option" form of municipal aggregation, following notice and opportunity for hearing, by means of a recorded vote of the municipal officers or the appropriate governing body; and

(2)__All customers in that municipality reserve the right to leave the municipal aggregation and designate a different provider, in writing, within a time period established by legislative enactment?

Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §3217, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 316, §3, is amended to read:

1. Annual restructuring report. On December 31st of each calendar year, the commission shall submit to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utility matters a report describing the commission's activities in carrying out the requirements of this chapter and the activities relating to changes in the regulation of electric utilities in other states.

In its report the commission shall provide an accounting of the commission's actual and estimated future costs of enforcing and implementing the provisions of this chapter governing the relationship between a transmission and distribution utility and an affiliated competitive electricity provider and the costs incurred by transmission and distribution utilities in complying with those provisions. The commission shall also provide an assessment of the effects of imposing these costs on ratepayers and the potential effects of assessing transmission and distribution utilities for these costs and prohibiting the costs from being passed through to ratepayers.

No later than December 1, 2002, the commission shall submit to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utility matters the report required under section 3212, subsection 4, with recommendations for action by the Legislature.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill advances by 2 years the reporting deadline for the Public Utilities Commission investigation of the value and continued necessity of standard-offer service in the State's competitive electricity markets. The bill also specifies in greater detail the matters that the commission must investigate with respect to the continuation of standard-offer service and requires the commission to make recommendations to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utility matters on appropriate changes in the laws governing standard-offer service.