An Act To Encourage Business Development by Limiting the Time a Utility May Hold a Business Customer's Deposit
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §705, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 141, Pt. A, §6, is amended to read:
2. Nonresidential customers. Every public utility shall file with the commission schedules containing its terms and conditions for requiring a deposit from nonresidential customers, which terms and conditions shall be subject to the commission's power under this Title. Every public utility shall comply with its terms and conditions. A public utility may hold a deposit from a nonresidential customer for no longer than one year, after which time the deposit must be returned to the customer. The commission shall adopt rules which that provide a procedure for resolution by the commission or its delegate of disputes as to whether a deposit being required by a public utility is in compliance with its terms and conditions. If the rules authorize a delegate to resolve disputes, the rules shall must include a procedure for appeal of the decision to the commission.
summary
This bill provides that a public utility may hold a deposit from a nonresidential customer for no longer than one year, after which time the deposit must be returned to the customer.