SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 6, 1994
CENTRAL MAINE POWER COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Maine 1-5139 01-0042740
(State of Incorporation) (Commission (IRS Employer
File Number) Identification Number)
83 Edison Drive, Augusta, Maine 04336
(Address of principal executive offices) (zip code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (207)
623-3521 <PAGE>
Item 1 through Item 4. Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Events.
(a) On April 6, 1994, Standard & Poor's Corp. ("S&P")
revised its outlook on the Company's securities from "negative"
to "stable" and affirmed its ratings on the Company's senior
secured debt at "BB+", its senior unsecured debt at "BB-", its
preferred stock at "B+", and its commercial paper at "B".
S&P said the revised outlook reflected the (previously
reported) April 4, 1994, stipulation involving regulatory issues
that had been pending before the Maine Public Utilities
Commission and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The rating
agency further stated that the stipulation "alleviates
uncertainty surrounding certain of CMP's purchased power
contracts . . ." and that as a result "uncertainty surrounding
the return on equity penalty and the nonutility generator
prudence investigations have been minimized." S&P further
pointed out that as a result of the stipulation ". . . a
disallowance is not allowable if as a consequence the utility's
return on equity falls below 6.8%" and that ". . . (a)s a
practical matter, CMP will have a difficult time earning slightly
above one-half of its authorized return (now 10.55%) in 1994".
(b) As previously reported, the Company has been named as a
potentially responsible party and has been incurring costs to
determine the best method of cleaning up an Augusta, Maine, site
formerly owned by a salvage company and identified by the federal
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") as containing soil
contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls ("PCBs") from equipment
originally owned by the Company. The Company has estimated that
its share of the remaining cleanup costs, based on the most
likely method of cleanup, would total between $7 million and $11
million, net of an agreed insurance recovery and court-ordered
percentage contributions from two other parties, but without
consideration of any potential contributions from other insurance
carriers the Company has sued or any other third parties.
On April 8, 1994, the EPA announced changes to the remedy it
had previously selected, the principal change being to adjust the
soil cleanup standard to ten parts per million from the one part
per million established in the EPA's 1989 Record of Decision, on
the part of the site where PCBs were found in their highest
concentration. The EPA stated that the purpose of adjusting the
standard of cleanup was to accommodate the selected technology's
current inability to eliminate PCBs and other chemical components
on the site to the original standard.
As a result of the changes, the Company believes it is now
more probable that its share of the remaining cleanup costs will
total near the lower end of the previously disclosed range of $7 <PAGE>
million to $11 million, based on the selected cleanup method and
the new standard, and considering the same third-party
contributions as described above. The Company cannot predict
with certainty the level and timing of the cleanup costs, the
extent they will be covered by insurance, or the ratemaking
treatment of such costs, but believes it should recover
substantially all of such costs through insurance and rates.
Item 6 through Item 8. Not applicable.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
CENTRAL MAINE POWER COMPANY
By
David E. Marsh
Vice President, Corporate Services,
and Chief Financial Officer
Dated: April 26, 1994 <PAGE>
