News in brief AUGUSTA: PORTLAND LEGISLATOR SEEKS TO ASSIST RENTERS WITH HEATING BILLS

Rep. John Eder, a Green Party representative from Portland, supported a bill, recently signed by Gov. John Baldacci, that directs the Maine Public Utilities Commission and the Maine State Housing Authority to develop a disclosure form for landlords. The form will let prospective renters know whether their rental units meet model state energy efficiency codes or standards and will advise renters of their ability to call the heating fuel supplier to find out what the unit’s previous energy bills were. “Portland has some of the oldest housing stock in the country and many of the oldest rental units in Portland are not insulated,” Eder said. “The cost of heating uninsulated, inefficient rental units is an astronomical hidden cost to many renters who pay the heating bills for the apartment.”