Starting this month, we'll see another increase in a bill we don't want, but it's going to happen anyway. Here are the details.

According to Central Maine, valued Central Maine Power (CMP) customers will see an average increase of $15.56 per month in their electric bills, an increase of 12.6%.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the increase and our average monthly bill will be just under $40. According to the article, this is based on 550 kilowatt-hours of usage.

According to the article, the costs are associated with storm damage cleanup, renewable energy, and incentives for electric heat pumps and cars. And while this is a pretty hefty increase, they say it could be worse and rates could have been higher if other costs hadn't gone down.

According to the report, CMP supplies electricity to 653,170 customers in Maine.

These customers will be charged about $5 more to cover the $179.3 million in insurance costs, which include net energy billing credits for renewable energy and purchase agreements for wind and solar farms.

The largest portion of the increase, over $10, will reimburse CMP $220 million for storm cleanup costs in 2022 and 2023, according to the report.

CMP has published a chart that illustrates the reasons for this increase.

According to CMP, most of the rate increase is due to the severe storms in 2022 and 2023. CMP has spent $220 million to clean up the damage after the storm, which will cost customers an average of more than $10 per month.

As a CMP customer myself, I understand the frustration over any tariff increase, especially one this large.

What do you think about it? Let us know.