Bangor Hydro-Electric Company Reduces Distribution Rates Effective July 1

BANGOR, MAINE, July 20 /CNW/ - Bangor Hydro-Electric Company has reduced
rates for electricity distribution service for the fourth year in a row. This
year's decrease is 1.83 percent for residential customers and 1.82 percent for
small commercial customers. Medium and large commercial customers also will
see a decrease in their winter distribution rates starting on November 1,
2006. These rate decreases vary by customer class, but range between 1.57
percent to 4.58 percent.
The decrease will offset most of the regular annual increase in
transmission rates, which are adjusted each July 1 for the previous year's
activity for each of the various rate classes. Transmission rates are
regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As a result,
customers will only see a slight rate increase overall.
Residential customers will experience an overall increase of .69 percent,
which is approximately $0.29 per month on the average 500 KWh residential
bill. Commercial customers will see overall rate increases of approximately
1.17 percent for small businesses and 0.56 percent for large companies.
Bangor Hydro is committed to providing safe, reliable, and affordable
electricity to customers within our service territory. Since 2003, Bangor
Hydro has reduced residential distribution rates by 9.18 percent.
A detailed rate schedule can be found on the Bangor Hydro website at
www.bhe.com.

About Bangor Hydro Electric Company

Bangor Hydro-Electric Company: Bangor Hydro-Electric Company (BHE) is an
electric utility wholly-owned by Emera Inc. BHE serves a population of 192,000
in an area encompassing 5,275 square miles in eastern and east coastal Maine.
BHE is a member of the New England Power Pool and is interconnected with other
New England utilities to the south and with the New Brunswick Power Corp. to
the north. Visit us at www.bhe.com.

About Emera Inc,

Emera Inc. (EMA-TSX) is an energy and services company with $4.0 billion
in assets. Electricity is Emera's core business. The company has two
wholly-owned regulated electric utility subsidiaries, Nova Scotia Power Inc.
and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, which together serve 590,000 customers.
Emera's other investments include a joint venture interest in Bear Swamp, a
600 megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric facility in northern Massachusetts;
a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline; and Emera Energy
Services which manages energy assets on behalf of third parties and provides
related services. Visit Emera on the web at www.emera.com.