| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3504, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1999, c. 398, Pt. A, | §88 and affected by §§104 and 105, is further amended to read: |
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| | 1. Exemption. Upon request of a consumer-owned transmission | and distribution utility of not more than 150 customers, the | commission may shall exempt the utility from any of the | requirements of any commission rules and this Title, with the | exception of sections 3502 and 3503. |
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| | Under current law, the Public Utilities Commission is | authorized to exempt certain small consumer-owned transmission | and distribution utilities from all but 2 of the provisions of | the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A. In its Order dated July | 29, 1999 in Docket Nos. 98-599 and 98-671, the Public Utilities | Commission declined to issue such an exemption requested by the | Isle au Haut Electric Power Company ("IAH"), stating that "[t]o | the extent that IAH believes that it should be totally | deregulated, the appropriate forum for such action is the Maine | Legislature." This bill removes the commission's discretion and | instead directs the commission, if requested by the utility, to | exempt small consumer-owned transmission and distribution | utilities from those provisions of Title 35-A. |
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