Editor:

One of the official ballots we are asked to complete here in Kennebunk on November 4 is the Kennebunk Municipal Ballot. Referendum Question 1 on that ballot is: Do you favor allowing the Kennebunk Light & Power District to provide retail electric service through the entire Town of Kennebunk if the district arranges the purchase of Central Maine Power Company’s relevant facilities within the Town?

Please vote “Yes” on this question. This town-wide vote is the final stage required by the State Legislature last March when it approved LD1221, the bill authorizing KLPD to serve the entire Town. This law removes the so-called 1903 Line imposed by the State in 1903. This arbitrary division of the Town has been opposed by residents for many years, primarily because it has resulted in serious inequities and disparities in the cost and quality of service. 

Recently, concern has been expressed that the cost of service benefit for KLPD customers has been diminished. This issue is clouded by the way service rates are computed for the two utilities since deregulation of power supply in Maine in 2001. The total cost of electric service in Maine is now broken down by power supply (generation) costs and power delivery (transmission and distribution) costs. Power supply is subject to competitive bidding processes, which are different for the two utilities. Terms and conditions for these processes vary, and currently KLPD’s power supply costs are higher than CMP’s. Over time these costs will tend to equalize in a competitive market.

The only costs which are the responsibility and under the control of each utility are the power delivery costs. Currently, the power delivery rate for CMP’s residential customers is approximately 6 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) and that for KLPD is under 2 cents per kWh. CMP’s power delivery rate may diminish somewhat as so-called stranded costs are further reduced. The delivery costs of both utilities may increase in future years as proposed transmission system improvements are made. However, it is expected that the 4 cents per kWh advantage of KLPD will continue. For the 1,500 CMP customers in Kennebunk this translates into approximately $780,000 annual savings based on estimates of usage and the mix of customers (year-round, seasonal, residential, and commercial).

Finally, consider the quality of service issue. In the past ten years the local grassroots group known as CEEK (Citizens for Electrical Equity in Kennebunk) has carefully compared the performance of the two utilities with respect to response to emergencies, routine requests for new service, voltage sags and surges, and service interruptions. KLPD has demonstrated far better performance than CMP in all of these areas. For example, in 2007 following two storms in April most of the CMP area in the town was out of service for 65 hours – almost three days. In contrast, only small portions of the KLPD service area lost electricity, the worst for a 22-hour period, in spite of exposure to the same weather conditions as the CMP area. 

Such disparities in the cost and quality of electric service in the same town need to be resolved.

Since the 1,500 CMP customers in Kennebunk will ultimately be paying for the purchase of CMP’s relevant facilities to enable KLPD’s acquisition, it is helpful to consider what the value of those facilities might be. For this we have CMP’s own evaluation provided to the Town annually for property tax purposes. In recent years this evaluation has been approximately $800,000. This certainly has to be one aspect of price negotiations. Any remaining stranded cost burden also has to be considered. And we should expect any review by the PUC and the Public Advocate to be fair to the 1,500 CMP customers in Kennebunk as well as CMP’s other 580,000 customers.

How do we know whether CMP will agree to a fair price for its distribution facilities in Kennebunk? Statements by the President of CMP do not indicate she is inclined to be agreeable. But the March vote in the Legislature was a major victory for Kennebunk, our State Senator Nancy Sullivan, and our Representatives Chris Babbidge and Gary Connor. All of this in the face of a strong lobbying effort by CMP. Another overwhelming vote by the yown on Referendum Question #1 cannot be overlooked by CMP. 

Please vote “Yes” on the Municipal Ballot Referendum Question No. 1 on November 4.

Robert C. Ender, P.E.

Kennebunk