BANGOR — Versant Power customers will soon see their electricity bills go up by about 8%.

This week, the Maine Public Utilities Commission announced it approved an increase of 23.2% in distribution revenue for Versant Power.

For typical customers using 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month, that means a monthly hike of an estimated $11.15.

According to the Commission, the approved distribution rate increase will be applied evenly across all rate classes and rate elements in both Versants Maine Public District and Bangor Hydro District.

“We certainly understand the financial pressures people are under and understand the concerns about affordability,” said Philip Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission. “What we try to do in cases like this is balance the need for investments in the system and covering very specific costs as well as the need to think longer term about how to deal with affordability questions.”

As part of our approval, the Commission is requiring Versant to demonstrate “improved reliability with financial penalties for failure to do so.”

Additionally, the Commission has asked Versant to come up with a multi-year rate plan moving forward in order to ease the transition for customers.

“One of the things we really emphasized in this case is that we need Versant to come forward in the future with a multi-year rate plan so that we can think about how the investments are ramped up into rates over time,” said Bartlett. “So, our hope is that the combination of that suggestion, as well as our ongoing grid-planning process at the commission, will help to prioritize investments going forward so that we can make sure that investments that need to be made to support reliability and to protect the system are being made, but that we are not going too fast for some of the customers.”

During the approval process, Versant cited infrastructure improvements, storm recovery costs and more as reasons for requesting the increase, while customers opposed to the change shared concerns about affordability and the recent supply rate increase that already added to their bills in January.

“Frankly, another increase in rates from Versant is ridiculous. Every year, there is another excuse why the rates need to be raised,” Holden resident Levi Hall wrote in a public comment submitted on March 2. ”The area that Versant provides electricity to is largely rural and most of their customers cannot afford to keep paying higher and higher rates for electricity.”

According to Versant's website, the electricity provider serves 159,000 customers across Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Washington Counties. 

Customers continued to add comments after the announcement of the Commission’s approval.

“I am writing this to protest Versant Power proposed distribution rate increase. My electricity rates have more than doubled in the past few years,” Mapleton resident Neal Ouellette wrote in a public comment submitted on March 12, after the announcement of the approval. ”It is time for Versant to exercise better management/cost cutting and stop passing their cost of doing business on to rate payers. In addition, I believe the P.U.C. needs to look out for the public and stop the rubber stamp approval every time an increase is submitted.”

Bartlett said the commission values the public’s input on the change.

“We did appreciate the input of customers in this process and encourage folks to continue to engage with us. We recognize that people are struggling with rising costs in all aspects of their life, and unfortunately electricity is no different,” said Bartlett. “Our goal is to work with utilities to find ways to ramp this up a little more slowly to make it a little bit more affordable for folks, and we really appreciate the feedback we get from customers about how they see the tradeoff between reliability and cost.”

Bartlett also said the commission rejected Versant’s originally proposed increase of 26%.

“We carefully went through that request,” said Bartlett. “The amount we approved was significantly less than was asked for, but ultimately it is a significant increase for Versant customers.”

A Versant Power representative shared with Spectrum News a full list of reasons for why the electricity provider requested the rate change, which reads as follows:

• Install covered wire in heavily forested areas in northern Penobscot, Piscataquis and Hancock counties to reduce outages caused by falling trees and branches.
• Perform substation work and transformer replacements to ensure reliability in Brewer, Washington County and southern Aroostook County.
• Conduct rebuilds to improve reliability in Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Blue Hill and Trenton.
• Recover costs of major storm restoration efforts.
• Invest in technology to modernize customers’ interactions, including a new web portal as well as email and text notification capabilities, and keep sensitive data secure.
• Continue work to maintain the reliability and resiliency of the grid in the face of rising costs of materials and labor.

Versant also further explained the nature of the distribution rate.

“The distribution rate is one of six rates that make up customer bills. Versant Power is a cost-of-service utility, which means its distribution rates reflect the cost of delivering electricity to local homes and businesses,” a Versant Power representative said in a statement. “Versant Power offers distribution rates and total average residential bills that remain lower than most comparable New England utilities.

Versant tells Spectrum News they will share more information with customers before the new rates take effect on April first.

“Versant Power will closely review the details of the M.P.U.C. order to determine impacts on rates, customers and employees,” the representative said. “More information will be shared before new rates take effect.