PRESQUE ISLE – The electricity supplier market has failed in northern Maine and there’s no “quick fix” for the problem, a state official said.

Maine Public Utilities Commission Chairman Kurt Adams is conveying that message to residential and commercial electricity customers this week during a three-day tour of Aroostook County.

Adams said Wednesday that he is talking with local people about the rate hike that affected the region in January as well as what officials are doing to help ease the situation.

“It took us a long time to get into this and it will take us a long time to get out,” Adams said while addressing members of the Maine Potato Board on Wednesday afternoon.

Adams also addressed a special joint meeting of the Presque Isle and Caribou chambers of commerce, paid a visit to a McCain’s plant, and met with the Loring Development Authority on Wednesday.

He planned to make stops in Madawaska, Limestone and Houlton between Thursday and this afternoon.

Adams’ message was in three basic parts:

. The various factors that led to standard offer electricity rate increases in Aroostook County;

. The steps the PUC has taken to address market constraints; and,

. The ways people can lower their bills now through energy efficiency.

Adams said that what the PUC sees in the northern Maine market is an “unregulated monopoly.” He told the Maine Potato Board that such a company is illegal only “if there is an exercise of market power.”

He said that, to date, the PUC does not have evidence to prove whether that happened in northern Maine.

Here is what did happen: Last November, the PUC rejected the lone retail bid by WPS Energy Services Inc. for standard offer service in Aroostook County.

According to the PUC, almost all residential and small nonresidential customers and more than half of medium commercial customers in Maine receive standard offer electricity services.

Adams said officials were shocked by WPS’s proposed rate increase. Though natural gas prices are on the rise, the PUC didn’t expect to see a “lockstep” increase in Aroostook County because it doesn’t use natural gas.

But that’s exactly what happened, Adams said. Officials are not sure what is causing the increase, other than that energy rates are going up across the country.

In December, after lengthy negotiations, the PUC accepted a new bid from WPS – now known as Integrys Energy Services Inc. – that offered lower prices than the original bid.

The contract will remain in place until March 2009. The negotiated rates resulted in customer bills that were between 20 and 40 percent higher.

Adams said the PUC is working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the problem, but that in the meantime, officials are trying to determine the “path forward.”

He said the region can look into building new power lines out of Aroostook County to connect more directly to New England’s power grid.

It could also consider building a new power plant to remove the monopoly. Finally, the area can look into establishing a regulatory power authority.

There is no quick answer, he said, because rates are going up everywhere: the difference in northern Maine is that people are feeling the increases so acutely.

“People in southern Maine saw the steps [rate increases] over time, but up here, people saw a big jump that hit everybody at the same time,” Adams said.

While the PUC works toward solutions, Adams said one of the best things people can do is look into energy efficiency.

A representative from Efficiency Maine was traveling with Adams to hand out information about the cash incentive programs it offers for Maine farmers and businesses, and the energy saving tips it offers to local residents.

Officials say that’s something many will want to consider as things get worse in the coming months. Another round of increases is expected to hit the area in July.