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Committee weighs amendment to align integrated grid planning with state energy plan; PUC and public advocate urge letting ongoing docket play out

Maine Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology ยท February 12, 2026

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Summary

Rep. Runte presented an amendment directing DOER, with the PUC and Office of the Public Advocate, to review the integrated grid planning process and recommend statutory changes by Feb. 1, 2027. PUC and OPA testimony warned of duplication with an active IGP docket and confidentiality/security challenges if detailed planning inputs were posted publicly.

Representative Runte presented a substitute amendment to LD 2213 to require review of the integrated grid planning (IGP) process and to increase transparency about planning inputs. The amendment would direct DOER, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), to evaluate whether the IGP process advances state priorities and to recommend statutory changes and rules to improve systemwide planning by Feb. 1, 2027.

Deirdre Schneider (PUC) and the Public Advocate both told the committee that much of the work described in the amendment is already underway within the PUCs active IGP docket and cautioned that requiring DOER to lead a parallel review could duplicate processes. Utilities raised security and proprietary concerns about mandating public posting of detailed planning inputs; Central Maine Power and Versant Power said confidential models, limited-circuit data and licensed software tools cannot be publicly posted without safeguarding customer privacy and grid security. The public advocate supported increased transparency in principle but recommended letting the PUCs review and any postmortem workshop play out first and noted the timing (Feb. 1, 2027) falls amid a gubernatorial transition.

Representative Runte and supporters argued the amendment would enable systems-level thinking and ensure the grid-planning process better reflects evolving load forecasts, electrification trends and extreme-weather resilience. The committee discussed potential language edits to preserve confidentiality guardrails while increasing access for independent technical reviewers. A majority report was prepared to retain a modified transparency provision and to ask the PUC to complete its post-IGP review and report back to the committee; details and any statutory recommendations will be refined in follow-up and possible language review.