Maine ratepayers are facing some of the steepest electricity price increases in the country, driven by rising fuel costs, aging infrastructure, and a regulatory model that rewards utility spending over cost containment. Bills have risen 52 percent since 2021, and roughly 12 to 14 percent of every Maine ratepayer’s monthly bill flows directly to shareholder profits. These pressures are compounding, and they will not resolve on their own.

Maine’s next governor will inherit this affordability challenge and a real opportunity to solve it, through immediate and sustained leadership that addresses the acute and structural drivers of Maine’s skyrocketing rates. The good news is that the tools to address these pressures already exist, largely without waiting on new statutory authority. Maine’s own Public Utilities Commission and Legislature have already shown they are willing to act boldly to curb rate increases and impose accountability on Maine’s investor-owned utilities — from the 2025 dismissal of a major Central Maine Power (CMP) rate request to the 2026 regional transmission organization law.

This primer lays out a menu of options for Maine’s next governor and transition team to sustain and accelerate that progress, organized around six areas of action.