Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. (NYSE: AGR) announced June 25 the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) authorized an annual adjustment of overall electric delivery prices for all CMP customers in Maine effective July 1, 2020.

When all components of the annual price adjustment are combined, the resulting change will add approximately $2.50 to the average residential customer’s monthly bill, according to a news release from CMP.

“This annual adjustment primarily reflects unavoidable costs incurred in restoring power after two major back to back storms in October and November 2019, which resulted in 230,000 and 180,000 outages respectively,” said David Flanagan, Executive Chairman of CMP.  “We understand it is our responsibility to balance our commitment to rapid and efficient storm response with the costs incurred to manage storm recovery promptly. In this extraordinary year, because of the impact on Maine people by the Covid pandemic, we urged the PUC to reduce the monthly costs by spreading them out over three years instead of the usual one, and to defer additional storm cost funding,” 

“We are committed to continuing to find ways to reduce cost and increase efficiencies, while also continuing to improve customer service and system reliability,” he said, in the release.

The adjusted delivery rates comprise five components: distribution costs, stranded costs, Efficiency Maine Trust assessments, low income program assessments and transmission costs.

Each of the costs, the company said, are reviewed and adjusted through the annual rate adjustment process. The impact for residential customers is an increase of 2.81% of the total billed amount, including energy supply.

In March, CMP chose to suspend certain fees, enforcement of payment plan requirements and account disconnections for nonpayment — which was subsequently mandated by the MPUC for all utilities — in response to the COVID pandemic economic impacts.

CMP encourages customers to contact the Customer Care Center to establish payment plans to manage their utility bills, or to inquire about assistance programs which may be available. Details are available at cmpco.com.

Last month, CMP announced an enhanced Customer Service Guarantee emphasizing the accuracy and timeliness of its customer billing. The company will pay customers $25 if the amount due on a bill is inaccurate or if the bill is late. The guarantee also applies to keeping service appointments and new service connections.