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An Act To Facilitate the Protection of Electric Utility Consumer Interests in Public Utility Commission Cases Involving the Construction, Rebuilding or Relocating of Transmission Lines
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§10-A  is enacted to read:
 
10-A.  Filing fee to Office of the Public Advocate.   When a person pays a filing fee to the commission pursuant to subsection 9, the person shall, at the same time, pay to the Office of the Public Advocate an amount equal to 1/100 of 1% of the estimated cost to erect, rebuild or relocate the transmission line. The person may, at the time of the filing of the petition under this section, request the Office of the Public Advocate to waive all or a portion of the filing fee. The Office of the Public Advocate shall decide on the waiver request within 30 days.
 
Filing fees paid as required under this subsection must be segregated, apportioned and expended by the Office of the Public Advocate for the purposes of representing the interests of consumers in the proceeding before the commission or conducting public outreach to inform consumers about the proceeding. The Office of the Public Advocate shall return any portion of the filing fee that is not expended for these purposes to the person who paid the fee.
Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3132, sub-§10-B  is enacted to read:
 
10-B.  Office of the Public Advocate reporting requirement; repeal.   No later than January 15, 2012, the Office of the Public Advocate shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters regarding filing fees collected pursuant to this section, including a detailed accounting of the amount of filing fees collected, the expenditures of the fees and the return of unexpended fees.
 
This subsection is repealed June 30, 2012.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
 
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
 
Public Advocate 0410
 
Initiative: Provides a base allocation for expenditure of future assessments of transmission projects by the Office of the Public Advocate in representing the interests of affected ratepayers.

OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS	2009-10	2010-11	
All Other	$500	$500	
			
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL	$500	$500	

Effective September 12, 2009