A combination of unseasonably warm temperatures and lower prices for heating oil and gasoline offers a welcome change from the norm.
Tux Turkel
Tux Turkel writes primarily about energy issues affecting Maine. Over the years, he has gazed into the spent-fuel pool at the now-gone Maine Yankee nuclear plant, looked across Casco Bay from atop Wyman Station’s smokestack, and toured power plants and wind farms across the state, but remains confused about why electricity doesn’t leak from our wall sockets.
When he’s not trying to make sense of dense regulatory filings at the Public Utilities Commission, he’s likely to be hiking in the mountains or visiting Maine’s coastal islands in his small motorboat.
A graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Tux lives in Yarmouth with his wife, youngest son, a cat and a guinea pig.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Times Record
State jolts CMP with $10 million penalty for mishandling billing and customer service
Gov. Janet Mills called for greater accountability from the state’s utilities after the Public Utilities Commission voted to reduce Central Maine Power’s earnings as punishment for the problems with its mismanagement of a new billing system.
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Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
CMP admits poor handling of winter disconnect notices
The embattled electric utility vowed to stop issuing the notices temporarily while insisting that the wording didn’t violate state rules.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Times Record
CMP president orders internal review of winter disconnect notices
Central Maine Power’s Doug Herling said he was disturbed by the ‘tone’ used in the utility’s shutoff notices to customers with outstanding bills.
Posted inLocal & State, Uncategorized
PUC rules for disconnection
Customers who can’t pay their utility bill and are at risk of not having food, medicine or heat in their households can seek a “special payment arrangement.”
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Maine regulators vote to investigate CMP’s winter disconnect notices
Since November, Central Maine Power Co. has delivered roughly 1,000 of the notices to customers warning that their power will be shut off unless they pay past-due bills.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Electric school buses latest stop on Maine’s climate-change journey
Converting all Maine school bus fleets to electric would reduce carbon emissions significantly, but upfront costs and range restrictions could pose challenges.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Times Record
PUC seeks to counter misinformation about CMP bill payment deferral policy
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has neither ended a policy allowing Central Maine Power customers to defer payment on a portion of disputed bills nor stopped working to resolve complaints.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
CMP systems weren’t to blame for shocking bills, report says, but mismanagement led to errors
The Public Utilities Commission staff found CMP mismanaged the billing system’s rollout and it made several recommendations, including a rate hike for customers.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Study group proposes modest goals for Maine renewable energy storage
Reaching 100 megawatts of storage capacity by 2025 would send an important signal to investors, it said.