Licensing and Contracting

Licensing

Beginning April 23, 1999, no entity may contract or offer to contract to provide generation service, enroll customers, provide generation service, or arrange for a contract for the provision of generation service, without having obtained a license from the PUC. All competitive electricity providers, including electricity suppliers, marketers, aggregators, and brokers must be licensed by the PUC. The license application is available here (Word) or on request to the PUC at 207-287-3831 (ask for the "Chapter 305 Application Package"). The application includes instructions and references to the PUC rule governing licensing, Chapter 305 (Word). The PUC maintains a current list of competitive electricity providers that have applied for and been granted licenses pursuant to Chapter 305.

The activities that require a license under Maine law are broad and generally include communication with end use customers and potential electricity suppliers through any means for the purpose of obtaining or facilitating the provision of electricity supply. Maine's licensing requirements are contained in Chapter 305 (Word). Entities that operate in Maine as competitive electricity providers without first obtaining a license from the PUC are subject to financial penalty and such activities may be grounds for the denial of a license. The PUC should be contacted if there are questions regarding whether specific activities require a license in Maine.

Contracting

The PUC has approved a rule (Chapter 322 (Word)) that requires that a provider of electricity must contract with each utility in whose service territory it sells electricity at retail prior to the enrollment of customers. Standard form contracts for each utility may be found here.