Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Maine Office of the Public Advocate (Department) is seeking proposals to provide consulting services, as defined in this Request for Proposal (RFP) document, in connection with a rate case that is expected to be filed by Northern Utilities, Inc., d/b/a Unitil (Northern) on or around May 1, 2023. This document provides instructions for submitting proposals, the procedure and criteria by which the awarded Bidder will be selected, and the contractual terms which will govern the relationship between the State of Maine (State) and the awarded Bidder. The Maine Public Advocate, by statute, represents the interests of Maine utility ratepayers, with special emphasis on the interests of low-income customers, in proceedings before the Maine Public Utilities Commission (Commission). Northern, a gas utility that is a subsidiary of Unitil Corporation, is a local distribution company that operates in both Maine and New Hampshire. Northern has approximately 34,100 customers in Maine. Northern, in Commission Docket 2023-00051, has submitted its intent to file a general rate case on or around May 1, 2023. In its Notice of Intent, Northern states that elements of its rate case will include: (1) a request to increase in annual base revenues of approximately $11 million; (2) a test year ending December 31, 2022; (3) a requested return on rate base of approximately 7.7 percent, including an approximate return on equity component of 10.3 percent; and (4) a proposal to update class rate allocation. Northern’s most recent previous rate case, Commission Docket 2019-00092, the Commission approved for inclusion in rate base a portion of Northern’s investment in a new customer information system, CIS, and ordered that a third-party audit be initiated to examine the prudence of the remainder of the expenditures Northern incurred in the implementation. Also, the Commission rejected the Company’s proposal to establish the capital investment recovery adjustment, or CIRA, and ordered certain modifications to the Company’s targeted area buildout, or TAB, programs in Saco and in Sanford. A rate increase of 7.8% was applied as an equal percentage increase across the board to all rate elements (fixed monthly charges, head blocks, tail blocks) and all rate classes.
