Ten people who asked for an investigation into water rate increases at the Loring Commerce Centre will have their case heard by the Maine Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday.
The commission will meet at 10 a.m. in Augusta on Jan. 14 to discuss several matters, including the Loring complaint.
Tim and Sandy McCabe, who own the Bunker Inn on the former air force base, are among the business- and homeowners who reported being blindsided in October by news of sharp water and sewer rate hikes from the Loring Development Authority that would start in January. The rates would more than triple what the McCabes pay for water, from $7,000 a year to $21,360.
The Maine PUC approved the rates in October. On Oct. 23, Tim McCabe signed a petition on behalf of the nine other residents and business owners requesting an investigation into the increases. The petitioners did not have an opportunity to review and share concerns about the increases before they went into effect, the document claimed.
The PUC opened an investigation in November.
Loring Development Authority officials countered that the rates were necessary to maintain the aging water system. In a Nov. 22 response to the Maine PUC, CEO Jonathan Judkins said the authority had only recently learned its water operations should be regulated by the PUC and that the system was underfunded, after a late 2023 financial evaluation. The authority would ease the impact with a short-term 50 percent subsidy, Judkins’ letter said.
The petitioners and the Office of the Public Advocate, which represents state utility ratepayers before the PUC, have also asked to have the increases paused until the investigation is concluded. The commission initially said in a Jan. 6 letter it was denying that request.
Other signers of the petition include Loring residents Theresa Woodworth, Rachelle Perreault, Elaine Akerson, Gail Isabel and B.B. Hredocik. Also named are Brittni Basu, co-manager of the Manser Drive apartments at Loring; Polly Chike, president of Loring Air Museum; Thomas Ayer, co-owner of CircleB Farms, which operates a broccoli processing facility at Loring; and Mark Appleton of British Cycle Supply.
The Maine PUC will consider the 10-person complaint and discuss the request for formal investigation and suspension of rates.
People may attend in person and should confirm their attendance at 207-287-3831. The session is also available on video and audio with a link at the commission’s website.
