Maine regulators approve new electric rates
MAINE - Maine regulators have approved a decrease in the electricity portion of bills for Central Maine Power and Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. residential and small business customers who use the default "standard offer."
The new rates going into effect March 1 reflect a 10 percent drop in the electricity supply costs, which account for about 60 percent of the monthly bills. Transmission and distribution rates, which account for the other 40 percent, also are expected to change on March 1.
Maine Public Utilities Commission Chairwoman Sharon Reishus said the dip in electric rates is good news after several years of rising energy prices.
MPUC also approved new rates for Maine Public Service Co. Those reflect a 2 percent decrease for small and medium-sized customers, and a 6 percent increase for large businesses.
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GAZA - In Imad Shlayl’s electronics shop in Gaza City, the customers crowding his store are interested in only two products: LED lights and the batteries to power them.
In the already impoverished Gaza Strip, residents have learned to adapt to the fact that electricity is only available for between two and four hours a day.
But fresh anger was sparked when availability was cut further last month, at the request of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in an escalation of his conflict with Hamas, the Islamist group.
The shortages have defined how people live their lives: getting up in the middle of…
