The public relations battle over Maine’s generous solar incentives

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff

Maine lawmakers have made some big deals while winding down their work for 2023, but a standoff over the state’s generous solar incentives remains unsolved. 

It’s unclear whether either side has the votes to break a deadlock between the chambers, meaning inaction could be an option. That might be the worst thing for Maine’s electric ratepayers, who were hit last month by a $135.7 million annual increase that is mostly attributable to subsidies dating back to 2019. 

The context: They sparked a community solar boom that continues to this day, but the contracts propping up those projects have been tied to global energy prices that have risen sharply since then.

The Legislature has passed two rounds of fixes, although they did not change the program substantively. Now, there are two rival bills facing lawmakers that attempt to rein in costs. The most aggressive one comes from Republicans, some Democrats, manufacturers and Public Advocate Bill Harwood, while an incremental one comes from Democrats and the solar industry.

In late June, it looked like the latter one was on track for passage. The House then flipped in a surprising vote last week, going for a watered-down version of the Republican-led bill after Rep. Steven Foster, R-Dexter, agreed to a series of changes including one that allows bigger projects to keep getting subsidies.

What they’re saying: Overall, that measure would pare down costs by allowing utility regulators to approve subsidy reductions. The Democratic-led bill from Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-Eliot, would allow Maine to seek federal funding for solar development and let solar firms choose whether to accept subsidies.

While Foster’s bill passed the House 91-52, there has been some question about whether it can clear the Senate. Only one Democrat — Sen. Nicole Grohoski of Ellsworth — opposed Lawrence’s measure there, and she and Foster issued a rare joint news release urging Mainers to contact their legislators over the holiday weekend to support their version.

“We can and must accelerate our transition to local, clean energy, but net energy billing is an unnecessarily expensive way to do this and needs to be reformed,” Grohoski said.

Supporters of the Lawrence bill are also out in force. Rep. Gerry Runte, D-York, an energy panel member, wrote a Bangor Daily News Op-Ed on Tuesday saying it is the only one that would “actually support solar development and our state’s clean energy goals.”

What’s next: To date, the Legislature has been full of surprises on this policy. The Senate may hold the keys to a fix. If it sticks by the Lawrence version, that may force the House’s hand in approving a more incremental change. If Grohoski can make progress with her colleagues, the Republican-led bill would make an improbable run to the front of the pack.