NRCM Statement on CMP Transmission Line Proposal: New England Energy Connect February 21, 2018 The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) opposes this project because of significant concerns about the environmental impact of both the line itself and of the sources of power the line may serve and concern that Governor LePage wants to push Read More
Central Maine Power
LePage Vows to Push Through $950M Project to Send Quebec Hydropower through Maine
By Christopher Cousins and Michael Shepherd, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — Massachusetts chose a $950 million project headed by Maine utility Central Maine Power to be its backup option for a massive clean energy procurement that appeared headed to New Hampshire before regulators there nixed it last week. Maine Gov. Read More
Lawmakers Have One More Chance to Fix Nonsensical Solar Rules
Bangor Daily News editorial Maine lawmakers again have the chance to fix unnecessary rules that will hamper the development of solar and other alternative, clean energy in Maine and will also needlessly cost Mainers millions of dollars. In 2016, the Legislature passed a bipartisan bill to update the state’s rules around solar power generation. LePage Read More
Support of LD 1686, An Act to Amend the Laws Regarding Distributed Energy Generation and to Eliminate Gross Metering
Senator David Woodsome, Representative Seth Berry, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities & Technology, my name is Dylan Voorhees and I am the Clean Energy Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). Thank you for allowing us to present this testimony. Given the history of the policies in this bill, Read More
Maine PUC Still Doesn’t Know How to Implement Its New Net Metering Rule
Delays Implementation Until May 1, 2018 Statement by Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine “Today the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reckoned with some of the flaws in their ill-conceived and harmful net metering rollback, deciding to delay implementation by four months. This is a small victory, considering what Maine people really Read More
Maine’s Disastrous New Solar Rules Violate Our Right to Energy Independence
By Seth Berry, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed It’s shocking, but true. Thanks to the actions of a self-proclaimed anti-tax governor, Maine is about to become the first state where electric companies can charge fees for the energy you make and use at your own home or business. This will likely reduce your Read More
In the End, Mainers Will Reject Regulators’ Anti-clean-energy Rule
The PUC tax on energy produced and used in the home will take effect as an election approaches. by Seth Berry Portland Press Herald op-ed AUGUSTA — Since Aug. 2, I’ve been asked many times: What happened to this year’s solar bill? And why? Despite overwhelming public support, on the last day of our legislative Read More
Groups File Brief Challenging Maine’s New Solar Rules
The filing appeals the Public Utilities Commission’s new solar rules in the wake of a failed legislative effort to sustain incentives. Portland Press Herald news story Groups opposed to Maine’s amended solar rules have joined in a brief challenging the authority and actions of the Public Utilities Commission. The Conservation Law Foundation, ReVision Energy, Industrial Read More
Fight Over Solar Power Incentives Goes to Maine Supreme Court
by Fred Bever Maine Public news story The battle over solar power’s future in Maine is moving to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. Last month, lawmakers who support existing incentives for residential solar power generation failed to override Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a plan to preserve them. That means a new rule proposed by Read More