STATE HOUSE / REMOTELY — Representative Nathan Carlow introduced legislation in the Maine House of Representatives that seeks to alter the structure of the Public Utilities Commission.
“This legislation seeks to accomplish much needed reforms to the Public Utilities Commission; beginning with imposing term limits on members of the Commission, establishing an overdue residency clause that requires that commissioners reside in the State of Maine while they are in office, and that would increase the number of commissioners from 3 to 5.
“The Commission affects ratepayers all across the State, and a signature piece of my proposal would be requiring the Governor to appoint candidates that are directly linked with local municipalities, have actual experience in the fields they are tasked with regulating, and that are fully committed to the Maine people,” Carlow said.
The legislation would also require that members of the commission be at least four years a citizen of the United States, and have been for at least one year prior to the commencement of service on the Commission, a resident of Maine.
Representative Carlow stated that the bill has been filed in the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, and that a final version has not yet been published.