Bracing for record enrollment growth, commission nearly doubles low-income energy funding

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday approved a milestone $40.5 million for the state’s Low Income Assistance Program, nearly doubling its budget as officials prepare for a surge in enrollment after expanding automatic electricity bill discounts for low-income households.

It’s the largest allocation the program has ever had, and nearly twice as much as the budget for the program’s current year. Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn said the support for LIAP is particularly important because electricity is a requirement for every household. 

“Every household needs to have their electricity turned on and be able to afford it on a monthly basis,” Sanborn said. “And this program ensures that those who are neediest in our state are given some help in affording their electric bills, as we know that those costs continue to climb, and that their family budget is squeezed from all sides from the other costs that are climbing in their lives from groceries, rent and gas, other expenses that their family has to budget for.”

At a regular meeting Tuesday, commissioners affirmed an additional $7.5 million for the program, which was included by the Legislature in the supplemental budget. That money is in addition to $31.75 million funded by ratepayers and $1.25 million from the New England Clean Energy Connect Low Income Customer Benefits Fund. 

That brings the total funding to $40.5 million for the program year beginning Oct. 1, 2026. That’s up from $22.5 million last year, which included $15 million from ratepayers and $7.5 million from the state Legislature. 

Although the amount of funding from the Legislature hasn’t increased, lawmakers did make that allocation an ongoing funding item for future years. 

Sanborn said using the general fund from the Legislature is a better way to fund LIAP, rather than getting the money through ratepayer fees on customers’ bills. 

“If we can fund this with tax dollars instead, that’s a much more progressive way to make sure that those who can most afford it, because they have the highest income or the highest tax burden, are the ones that are actually funding the program,” she said.

Why the program is expanding

The reason for the increased funding is that the commission is anticipating an increase in enrollment, after it finalized several rule changes in December. 

The biggest change is a drastic expansion in who is automatically enrolled in LIAP, Sanborn said.  

Starting in October, utilities will automatically enroll customers who participate in income-based Maine Department of Health and Human Services programs and are making less than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines. 

Before the rule changes, Sanborn said, those customers were eligible for LIAP, but were only notified with a mailing once a year, and were responsible for contacting their utility company to get enrolled. 

“We’ve just had trouble getting people to take that next step to actually be able to show their utility that they’re eligible,” she said. 

Customers of investor-owned utilities, like Central Maine Power and Versant Power will get a monthly discount directly applied to their utility bill instead of a credit in their utility account twice a year. Sanborn said. 

The monthly discounts will be calculated based on four income tiers, Sanborn said, with lower income households getting more assistance. That’s because no household should spend more than 4% of their monthly income on electricity, she said. That figure increases to 6% a month for homes with electric heating, and 10% for homes with electric vehicle charging. 

The monthly model is more accessible, and realistic for people who are struggling to pay their bills every month, according to Sanborn. 

“It is much more in line with how people actually experience their family budgets and their monthly electricity bill,” she said. “They have to pay it every month, and having an uncertain amount due and not being sure when you might get a credit deposited into your account makes it really hard to budget for.”