## Facts

- The Maine Public Utilities Commission (the commission) reviewed the Maine Power Reliability Program Stipulation (the stipulation) agreed to by Central Maine Power Company (CMP), two other utility companies, and three environmental groups.
- The stipulation required CMP to propose three electric vehicle (EV) pilot projects as part of the parties’ broader agreement.
- The parties agreed that Pilot Project 1 had already been implemented successfully.
- Pilot Project 2 was divided into Pilot Project 2-A and Pilot Project 2-B.
- Pilot Project 2-B included spending ratepayer funds of up to $25,000 for a third-party administrator and up to $100,000 for incentive grants.
- Under the stipulation, CMP would initially pay the ratepayer-funded portions of Pilot Project 2-B, but CMP could defer those costs for later recovery from ratepayers (utility customers).
- The stipulation also provided for a stakeholder group to develop Pilot Project 3.
- The Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), which represents ratepayer interests, submitted comments to the commission on the stipulation.
- OPA neither supported nor opposed the stipulation, but it raised concerns about using ratepayer funds for Pilot Project 2-B and about not considering EVs as a nontransmission alternative (including off-hour charging and potential discharge back to the grid during peak demand).
- OPA ultimately stated that Pilot Project 2-B would provide little benefit to ratepayers.
- The commission approved the stipulation and entered an order addressing CMP’s proposed EV pilot programs.

## Issues

1. Whether the commission should approve the stipulation’s EV pilot-project requirement, including Pilot Project 2-B’s capped ratepayer-funded administrator and incentive-grant components.
2. Whether the stipulation permitted CMP to defer Pilot Project 2-B’s eligible costs for later recovery from ratepayers, notwithstanding OPA’s concerns about ratepayer benefit.
3. Whether concerns about EVs as a nontransmission alternative required changes to Pilot Project 2-B as proposed, or could be addressed through later pilot design work (including the stakeholder process for Pilot Project 3).

## Decision

- The commission approved the Maine Power Reliability Program Stipulation that required CMP to propose and carry out EV pilot projects.
- The commission approved CMP’s proposed Pilot Project 2 structure, including Pilot Project 2-B and its capped budgets for a third-party administrator (up to $25,000) and incentive grants (up to $100,000).
- The commission allowed the cost treatment contemplated by the stipulation for Pilot Project 2-B, including CMP’s deferral of eligible pilot costs for later recovery from ratepayers.
- The commission considered OPA’s comments but did not treat them as a basis to reject the stipulation.
- A dissent was filed by Vannoy.

## Legal Principles

- A public utilities commission may approve a multi-party stipulation when it finds the agreement acceptable and consistent with the public interest.
- A commission may authorize pilot-scale spending funded by ratepayers where the program scope and expenditures are limited and defined in an approved stipulation.
- A commission may permit a utility to defer approved pilot-program costs for later rate recovery when that cost treatment is authorized by an approved stipulation and remains subject to commission review.
- Ratepayer-advocate comments identifying cost and benefit concerns do not, by themselves, require rejection of a stipulation if the commission determines the stipulated framework should proceed.

## Conclusion

The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the Maine Power Reliability Program Stipulation provisions requiring CMP to implement EV pilot projects, including Pilot Project 2-B’s capped ratepayer-funded program administration and incentive grants, and it permitted CMP to defer eligible pilot costs for later recovery from customers despite OPA’s stated concern that Pilot Project 2-B offered little ratepayer value and did not address EVs as a nontransmission alternative.


Central Maine Power Company Proposed Electric Vehicle Pilot Project, 2013 WL 4433468 (2013)