Power company appealed from decision of Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that company had misapplied nearly $2.6 million in customer deposits to account balances for transmission-and-distribution (T&C) services that should have been applied to account balances for standard-offer service.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held that:
- PUC reasonably interpreted applicable statutes and regulations referring to “a deposit” by an electricity customer as containing two components, one for T&C service and one for standard-offer service, which must be allocated to oldest debt first;
- Prospective financial impact on power company did not alone render the ordered accounting adjustment penal so as to merit application of the fair notice doctrine; and
- PUC’s decision did not run afoul of prohibition against retroactive rulemaking.