Maine Begins Automatic Electric Bill Discounts for Low-Income Families on Oct. 1 Under $40 Million Aid Program
AUGUSTA, Maine — Beginning October 1, 2026, tens of thousands of eligible low-income households in Maine will automatically receive discounts on their electric bills, Governor Janet Mills announced. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services will use existing data from programs such as SNAP, TANF and MaineCare to identify eligible households, securely share the information with participating utilities, and have the discounts applied directly to monthly electric bills — no separate application required.
The $40 million in relief comes through Maine's Low Income Assistance Program (LIAP) and covers eligible customers of Central Maine Power (CMP) and Versant Power. The governor's office said the move is aimed at easing the burden of persistently high energy prices on low-income families ahead of winter. Mills has also written to Maine's congressional delegation urging Congress to boost federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), saying current funding is insufficient to meet demand driven by surging fuel and electricity prices.
Separately, MaineHousing has issued nearly $4 million in early Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) payments directly to fuel vendors, helping about 4,400 of the state's most vulnerable households secure heating fuel before cold weather arrives. Priority households include those with older adults, young children and people with disabilities.
The state energy office noted that Maine's long winters make heating costs a disproportionate share of low-income household budgets. The automatic enrollment avoids the problem of eligible families missing out on aid because they did not know about it or found the paperwork too cumbersome. Utilities will begin reflecting the discounts on bills in the coming weeks; residents with eligibility questions may contact the Department of Health and Human Services.
MaineHousing's nearly $4 million in early HEAP payments came from carryover funds from the 2025–2026 heating season, and the state energy office also hosted a winter heating webinar in early October with tips and resources to help residents save money and stay warm.
(Compiled from the Maine Governor's Office and the state energy office's October newsletter.)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：缅因州议会大厦（奥古斯塔）彩色航拍。摄影：Quintin Soloviev，CC BY 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
