Whereas, the Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocate rely on assessments for their annual budgets; and

Whereas, this legislation affects the levels of income from specific sources; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §116, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 272, §1, is further amended to read:

1. Utilities subject to assessments. Every transmission and distribution, gas, telephone and water utility and ferry subject to regulation by the commission is subject to an assessment on its intrastate gross operating revenues to produce no more than $5,505,000 in revenues annually. The commission shall assess transmission and distribution utilities at a rate sufficient to produce $3,772,000 annually. The commission shall assess all other utilities at a rate sufficient to produce $1,733,000 annually. The commission shall develop a method of accounting for the time spent by the commission and its professional and support staff on issues related to the categories of public utilities as described in section 102, subsection 13.__The commission shall determine the assessments for each category of utility based on the results of that accounting.__Within each utility category, assessments on the utilities in that category must be based on gross intrastate operating revenues. The commission shall determine the assessments annually prior to May 1st and assess each utility for its pro rata share for expenditure during the fiscal year beginning July 1st. Each utility shall pay the assessment charged to the utility on or before July 1st of each year. Any increase in the assessment that becomes effective subsequent to May 1st may be billed on the effective date of the act authorizing the increase.

A. The assessments charged to utilities under this section are just and reasonable operating costs for rate-making purposes.