Overview
Profile
Maine & Maritimes Corporation is a holding company incorporated in the State of Maine, and is the parent company for all business segments. MAM maintains investments in a regulated electric transmission and distribution utility and an unregulated utility services company, both operating within the State of Maine.
Maine Public Service Company is a regulated electric transmission and distribution utility serving all of Aroostook County and a portion of Penobscot County in northern Maine. Since March 1, 2000, the date retail electric competition in Maine commenced, customers in MPS's service territory have been purchasing energy from suppliers other than MPS. This energy comes from Competitive Electricity Suppliers ("CES") or, if customers are unable or do not wish to choose a competitive supplier, the Standard Offer Service ("SOS") provider. SOS providers are determined through a bid process conducted by the Maine Public Utilities Commission ("MPUC"). MPS provides the transportation through its transmission and distribution wires infrastructure. Its service area covers approximately 3,600 square miles, with a population of 73,000. The utility is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") and the MPUC. MPS is headquartered in Presque Isle, Maine.
MPS was originally incorporated in the United States as the Gould Electric Company ("Gould") in April 1917, by a special act of the Maine legislature in connection with the purchase and lease of all of the assets of the Maine & New Brunswick Electrical Power Company, Ltd., a Canadian company. Following the sale of its assets to Gould, Me&NB remained a subsidiary of Gould, and subsequently MPS. Me&NB was primarily a hydro-electric generating company. It owned and operated the Tinker hydro-electric station in New Brunswick, Canada, until June 8, 1999, when these assets were sold by MPS to WPS Power Development, Inc. ("WPS-PDI"), a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation ("WPS"), now known as Integrys.
Following its incorporation in the United States, Gould changed its name to Maine Public Service Company in August 1929. MPS was a privately-held subsidiary of the Consolidated Electric & Gas Company until 1947, when its capital stock was sold as a result of Consolidated Electric & Gas Company's forced divestiture. From 1947 until its corporate reorganization in 2003, MPS was the corporate parent and traded under the stock symbol "MAP" on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). Until its generating assets were sold on June 8, 1999, MPS produced electric energy for retail and wholesale customers. From that date through March 1, 2000, MPS continued to purchase electric energy for sale to these customers. MPS continues to provide transmission services to former wholesale energy customers and transmission and distribution services to retail customers in the service territory; however, it does not provide electric energy supply.
The economy of MPS's service area, once heavily influenced by a significant military presence, continues to be dependent on agricultural and the forest products industries. Potato farming and processing and the manufacturing of forest products, principally lumber, plywood, and oriented-strand board, continues to be dominant economic forces. The growing of broccoli has added diversity to the region's agricultural economic base. Tourism, particularly related to snowmobiling and skiing, appears to be playing an increasing role in the area's economy. The medical industry also represents a positive and growing economic force within the region, serving as a leading employer and job creation sector. Additionally, a 42-megawatt wind farm was commissioned during 2006 in Mars Hill, Maine. However, data appears to suggest that the northern Maine economy continues to lag behind national economic trends and is experiencing population losses, particularly among the service area's youth and young adults. Attracting new businesses and jobs to northern Maine in an effort to reverse outward-migration trends appears to be a continuing challenge for the area's leaders and businesses, including MPS. To combat the economic challenges in its service area, MPS participates in a public/private partnership for economic progress in cooperation with the Northern Maine Development Commission. Managed by a private-sector investors' council, MPS and its staff are helping to execute an economic development program. The efforts of Aroostook Partnership for Progress ("APP") are intended to increase the area's emphasis on economic development through improved focus on and funding for economic development.
Electricity sales in the Company's territory are seasonal, and the Company's results of operations reflect this seasonal nature. The highest usage occurs during the five heating season months, from November through March, due to heating-related requirements and shorter daylight hours. The rate year is divided into two periods, with higher rates in place in the winter months to encourage conservation. Also, due to the climate in the northern Maine area, the majority of MPS's construction program is completed during the spring, summer, and fall months.
MPS is subject to certain environmental standards and regulations. One of the larger environmental initiatives impacting MPS is the poly chlorinated bi-phenol ("PCB") mitigation effort. In response to a Maine environmental regulation to phase out PCB transformers, MPS has implemented a program to eliminate transformers on its system that do not meet the new State environmental guidelines.
Currently, MPS is partnering with Central Maine Power Company to construct a 345,000 Volt transmission line from northern Aroostook County to central Maine. The companies on July 1, 2008, filed a petition for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Maine Public Utilities Commission. If approved, the $625 million Maine Power Connection project will link northern Maine to the CMP and New England electrical grids to provide MPS customers with access to competitive power markets and support the development of proposed wind generation projects in Aroostook County. MPS presently does not have a connection to the New England grid or adequate capacity to handle requests for transmission connections from wind developers. Completion of the 200-mile 345 kV transmission line will create important public benefits, such as:
- Provide competitive regional electricity costs for customers in northern Maine;
- Enhance market access for renewable energy sources, enabling 800 MW of wind development;
- Improve system reliability for northern Maine, Maine, and New England;
- Reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants;
- Reduce dependency on fossil fuels and foreign oil;
- Add $25 to $30 million annually to local property tax revenues; and
- Create green jobs and stimulates new R&D initiatives in Aroostook County.
Maine & New Brunswick Electrical Power Company, Ltd., is an inactive Canadian subsidiary of MPS, which, prior to deregulation and generation divestiture, owned MPS's Canadian electric generation assets. Me&NB was incorporated in 1903 under the laws of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada.
MAM Utility Services Group was incorporated in the State of Maine on September 27, 2007, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MAM. The purpose of MAM USG is to provide utility-related services to clients on projects that MPS could not or would not be required to provide under State and Federal regulations. This includes transmission line and substation design-and-build services for generator projects outside the MPS service territory and contract work within MPS's territory that MPS is not required to provide. MAM USG focuses on areas such as transmission infrastructure to support renewable generation, utility asset maintenance contracts, and other utility-related services. In compliance with the MPUC's Rules and its Reorganization Order in Docket 2002-676, these services must be provided under a separate subsidiary. MAM USG is in the business development stage and currently has no employees.
Energy Atlantic, LLC, is a licensed, but currently inactive, CES of retail electricity, and is classified as discontinued operations.
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