Augusta to file complaint against CMP
Augusta city officials have directed their attorney to file a complaint against Central Maine Power Co., arguing the company is improperly supporting a bill on behalf of its sister company, Maine Natural Gas, which lost a contract with the city.
The Kennebec Journal reported CMP asked Farmington Republican Rep. Lance Harvell to submit LD 1754, a bill that would require utilities to pay vehicle excise taxes in the city or town where those vehicles are kept. Currently, utilities pay those taxes to the municipality where their company headquarters is.
The newspaper reported that could cost the city of Augusta, where CMP is based, more than $200,000 a year in lost revenue. The city council approved a resolve last week in a 6-0 vote, with one abstention, that alleges CMP supported the bill to penalize the city for selecting Summit Natural Gas over Maine Natural Gas last July to provide natural gas to municipal facilities.
John Caroll, CMP spokesman, told the newspaper he could not comment on specific allegations because the city has not yet filed a complaint with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, but he said the company supports the bill not out of retribution but out of fairness to other municipalities where it keeps its vehicles and pays no excise tax. The company has garages for vehicles in Skowhegan, Fairfield, Farmington and Portland.
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