FORM 8-K



                  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                        Washington, D.C.  20549



                            CURRENT REPORT



                Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                    Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                    Date of Report:  July 25, 1996


                      MAINE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY            
        (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



            Maine                   1-3429          01-0113635      
(State, or other jurisdiction    (Commission       (IRS Employer
      of incorporation)          File Number)    Identification No.)


209 State Street, Presque Isle, Maine                 04769  
(Address of principal executive offices)            (Zip Code)


Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code   207-768-5811









Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  

Item 5.   Other Material Events

          Maine Public Utilities Commission Issues Draft Plan on
          Electric Utility Industry Restructuring Study, Docket 
          No. 95-462.

          In 1995, the Maine Legislature passed Resolve 89 "To Require
          a Study of Retail Competition in the Electric Utility
          Industry" (the "Resolve"), to begin a process for developing
          recommendations on the future structure of the electric
          utility industry in Maine.  The process included the
          appointment of a Work Group on Electric Utility Restructuring
          to develop a plan for the orderly transition to a competitive
          market for retail purchases and sales of electricity.  The
          Company participated in this Work Group, which was unable to
          reach a consensus on a recommended plan by its reporting
          deadline.

          The Resolve also directed the Maine Public Utilities
          Commission (MPUC) to conduct a study to develop at least two
          plans for the orderly transition to retail competition in the
          electric utility industry in Maine and to submit a report of
          its findings by January 1, 1997.  One plan would be designed
          to achieve "... full retail market competition for purchases
          and sales of electric energy by the year 2000" and the other
          to achieve a more limited form of competition.  The Resolve
          also stated that the MPUC's findings would have no legal
          effect, but would "... provide the Legislature with
          information in order to allow the Legislature to make informal
          decisions when it evaluates these plans."

          On December 12, 1995, the MPUC issued a Notice of Inquiry (the
          "Notice") initiating its study.  In the Notice, the MPUC
          solicited detailed proposals and plans for achieving retail
          competition in Maine by the year 2000 and requested the
          proposals include specific plans for an orderly transition to
          a more competitive market.  The Notice required that plans and
          proposals be filed with the MPUC by interested parties no
          later than January 31, 1996, and outlined a schedule calling
          for submittal of a final report to the Legislature in
          December, 1996.

          On January 30, 1996, the Company filed its restructuring
          proposal with the MPUC.  The major elements of this proposal
          are:

          (a)  The separation of the Company's generation assets
          (including contracts and entitlements) from its transmission
          and distribution assets.  The Company suggested this
          separation could be accomplished by either a functional
          separation of generation from distribution and transmission

                                    -2-

Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  

          within the Company's existing corporate structure or by
          separating generation, on the one hand, and distribution and
          transmission, on the other, into two wholly-owned
          subsidiaries.  The Company strongly opposes any recommendation
          that it be required to divest itself of its generation assets.

          (b)  The economic and resource planning regulation of
          generation would cease.  The FERC would continue to regulate
          transmission, and distribution would remain a franchised
          monopoly subject to continued regulation by the MPUC.  The
          owner of the distribution system would be obligated to connect
          all willing customers.

          (c)  If certain necessary changes in the operation and
          management of the regional transmission grid are in place, all
          retail customers in Maine would, by the year 2000, be entitled
          to purchase electric energy directly from any entity that
          wished to supply it to them.

          (d)  The Company would be entitled to full recovery of all its
          stranded costs.  This recovery would be accomplished by a
          charge on the distribution system that would apply to all
          retail customers.  In its filing, the Company estimates that
          its stranded costs could be as high as $68 million.  This
          amount consists primarily of the above-market costs of the
          Company's contract with Wheelabrator-Sherman, a non-utility
          generator, estimated at $44 million and deferred regulatory
          assets, such as its Seabrook investment of $24 million.

          The Company's proposal, however, was only one of over a dozen
          received by the MPUC in response to its Notice, some of which
          take positions on these matters that vary substantially from
          the Company's.  

          On July 19, 1996, the MPUC issued its Draft Plan in this
          matter, which, in its own terms, represents the MPUC's
          "preliminary view" on how to restructure Maine's electric
          utility industry.  The Draft Plan recommends the following:

               .    As of January, 2000, all Maine consumers would have
               the option to choose an electric power supplier.

               .    As of January, 2000, Maine would not regulate, as
               public utilities, companies producing or selling electric
               power.

               .    Regulated public utilities would continue to provide
               electric transmission and distribution services.


                                    -3-

Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  


               .    As of January, 2000, the Company, Central Maine
               Power Company (CMP) and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company
               (BHE), the State's three largest electric utilities,
               would be required to structurally separate their
               generation assets and functions from transmission and
               distribution functions.  CMP and BHE would be required to
               fully divest themselves of their generation assets by
               2006.  The Draft Plan does not recommend generation
               divestiture for the Company.  Instead, the MPUC requested
               additional comment "on whether MPS should be required to
               divest its generation assets as described [in this Draft
               Plan], by another method, or not at all."

               .    All contracts between the utilities and any
               qualifying facilities under PURPA would remain with the
               transmission and distribution companies.

               .    The utilities should be provided a reasonable
               opportunity to fully recover its generation-related
               stranded costs.  All of the Company's anticipated
               stranded costs are generation-related.
               
          The MPUC has requested comment on its Draft Plan by August 30,
          1996.  These comments could result in the MPUC's modification
          of its preliminary recommendations.  Moreover, because the
          MPUC's final recommendation will not have any binding legal
          effect, this issue must ultimately be resolved by the Maine
          Legislature.  Many parties to this proceeding have taken
          positions that vary substantially from those set forth in this
          Draft Plan and those parties can be expected to advocate their
          positions before the Legislature.  The Company cannot,
          therefore, predict what form the restructuring of Maine's
          electric utility industry will ultimately take or what effect
          that restructuring will have on the Company's business
          operations or financial results.

                                   MAINE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
                                           Registrant


Dated:   July 25, 1996             Larry E. LaPlante                          
                                   Larry E. LaPlante, Vice President
                                   Finance and Treasurer




                                    -4-
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FORM 8-K

                  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                        Washington, D.C.  20549

                            CURRENT REPORT

                Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                    Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                    Date of Report:  July 25, 1996

                      MAINE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY            
        (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

            Maine                   1-3429          01-0113635      
(State, or other jurisdiction    (Commission       (IRS Employer
      of incorporation)          File Number)    Identification No.)

209 State Street, Presque Isle, Maine                 04769  
(Address of principal executive offices)            (Zip Code)

Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code   207-768-5811

Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  

Item 5.   Other Material Events

          Maine Public Utilities Commission Issues Draft Plan on
          Electric Utility Industry Restructuring Study, Docket 
          No. 95-462.

          In 1995, the Maine Legislature passed Resolve 89 "To Require
          a Study of Retail Competition in the Electric Utility
          Industry" (the "Resolve"), to begin a process for developing
          recommendations on the future structure of the electric
          utility industry in Maine.  The process included the
          appointment of a Work Group on Electric Utility Restructuring
          to develop a plan for the orderly transition to a competitive
          market for retail purchases and sales of electricity.  The
          Company participated in this Work Group, which was unable to
          reach a consensus on a recommended plan by its reporting
          deadline.

          The Resolve also directed the Maine Public Utilities
          Commission (MPUC) to conduct a study to develop at least two
          plans for the orderly transition to retail competition in the
          electric utility industry in Maine and to submit a report of
          its findings by January 1, 1997.  One plan would be designed
          to achieve "... full retail market competition for purchases
          and sales of electric energy by the year 2000" and the other
          to achieve a more limited form of competition.  The Resolve
          also stated that the MPUC's findings would have no legal
          effect, but would "... provide the Legislature with
          information in order to allow the Legislature to make informal
          decisions when it evaluates these plans."

          On December 12, 1995, the MPUC issued a Notice of Inquiry (the
          "Notice") initiating its study.  In the Notice, the MPUC
          solicited detailed proposals and plans for achieving retail
          competition in Maine by the year 2000 and requested the
          proposals include specific plans for an orderly transition to
          a more competitive market.  The Notice required that plans and
          proposals be filed with the MPUC by interested parties no
          later than January 31, 1996, and outlined a schedule calling
          for submittal of a final report to the Legislature in
          December, 1996.

          On January 30, 1996, the Company filed its restructuring
          proposal with the MPUC.  The major elements of this proposal
          are:

          (a)  The separation of the Company's generation assets
          (including contracts and entitlements) from its transmission
          and distribution assets.  The Company suggested this
          separation could be accomplished by either a functional
          separation of generation from distribution and transmission

                                    -2-

Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  

          within the Company's existing corporate structure or by
          separating generation, on the one hand, and distribution and
          transmission, on the other, into two wholly-owned
          subsidiaries.  The Company strongly opposes any recommendation
          that it be required to divest itself of its generation assets.

          (b)  The economic and resource planning regulation of
          generation would cease.  The FERC would continue to regulate
          transmission, and distribution would remain a franchised
          monopoly subject to continued regulation by the MPUC.  The
          owner of the distribution system would be obligated to connect
          all willing customers.

          (c)  If certain necessary changes in the operation and
          management of the regional transmission grid are in place, all
          retail customers in Maine would, by the year 2000, be entitled
          to purchase electric energy directly from any entity that
          wished to supply it to them.

          (d)  The Company would be entitled to full recovery of all its
          stranded costs.  This recovery would be accomplished by a
          charge on the distribution system that would apply to all
          retail customers.  In its filing, the Company estimates that
          its stranded costs could be as high as $68 million.  This
          amount consists primarily of the above-market costs of the
          Company's contract with Wheelabrator-Sherman, a non-utility
          generator, estimated at $44 million and deferred regulatory
          assets, such as its Seabrook investment of $24 million.

          The Company's proposal, however, was only one of over a dozen
          received by the MPUC in response to its Notice, some of which
          take positions on these matters that vary substantially from
          the Company's.  

          On July 19, 1996, the MPUC issued its Draft Plan in this
          matter, which, in its own terms, represents the MPUC's
          "preliminary view" on how to restructure Maine's electric
          utility industry.  The Draft Plan recommends the following:

               .    As of January, 2000, all Maine consumers would have
               the option to choose an electric power supplier.

               .    As of January, 2000, Maine would not regulate, as
               public utilities, companies producing or selling electric
               power.

               .    Regulated public utilities would continue to provide
               electric transmission and distribution services.

                                    -3-

Current Report, Form 8-K for                           Date of Report:
Maine Public Service Company                           July 25, 1996  

               .    As of January, 2000, the Company, Central Maine
               Power Company (CMP) and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company
               (BHE), the State's three largest electric utilities,
               would be required to structurally separate their
               generation assets and functions from transmission and
               distribution functions.  CMP and BHE would be required to
               fully divest themselves of their generation assets by
               2006.  The Draft Plan does not recommend generation
               divestiture for the Company.  Instead, the MPUC requested
               additional comment "on whether MPS should be required to
               divest its generation assets as described [in this Draft
               Plan], by another method, or not at all."

               .    All contracts between the utilities and any
               qualifying facilities under PURPA would remain with the
               transmission and distribution companies.

               .    The utilities should be provided a reasonable
               opportunity to fully recover its generation-related
               stranded costs.  All of the Company's anticipated
               stranded costs are generation-related.
               
          The MPUC has requested comment on its Draft Plan by August 30,
          1996.  These comments could result in the MPUC's modification
          of its preliminary recommendations.  Moreover, because the
          MPUC's final recommendation will not have any binding legal
          effect, this issue must ultimately be resolved by the Maine
          Legislature.  Many parties to this proceeding have taken
          positions that vary substantially from those set forth in this
          Draft Plan and those parties can be expected to advocate their
          positions before the Legislature.  The Company cannot,
          therefore, predict what form the restructuring of Maine's
          electric utility industry will ultimately take or what effect
          that restructuring will have on the Company's business
          operations or financial results.

                                   MAINE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
                                           Registrant

Dated:   July 25, 1996             Larry E. LaPlante                          
                                   Larry E. LaPlante, Vice President
                                   Finance and Treasurer

                                    -4-