Maine Revised Statutes Title 35-A. Public Utilities § 4713. Assessment and report of natural gas leaks

1. Gas utilities to assess for natural gas leaks. A gas utility shall assess its natural gas system for natural gas leaks, including every natural gas main and meter under its jurisdiction, as frequently as may be required by the commission by rule, but no less frequently than every 3 years.

2. Gas utility; reporting. Each gas utility shall provide reports to the commission at a frequency as established by the commission by rule regarding the number of natural gas leaks identified by the gas utility and the actions taken by the gas utility to address the natural gas leaks. The reports must protect individually identifiable customer information by omitting customer names and addresses, except that the reports must include street location information for the identified natural gas leaks. The commission shall post the reports received from gas utilities in accordance with this subsection on the commission's publicly accessible website.

3. Commission; reporting. No later than April 1, 2026 and annually thereafter, the commission shall provide a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utility matters. The report must list each gas utility providing service in the State and the number of natural gas leaks identified by the gas utility in the prior calendar year by street location and must describe any action taken by the gas utility to address the natural gas leaks. The report must protect individually identifiable customer information by omitting customer names and addresses. The commission shall post the reports required by this subsection on the commission's publicly accessible website.

4. Compliance. The commission shall periodically assess gas utility compliance with the requirements of subsections 1 and 2 at a frequency determined by the commission.

5. Rules. The commission may adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.