SOUTH PORTLAND — A new and creative way to bring reduced electricity costs to all ratepayers and help municipalities invest in sustainable, low-cost energy to benefit residents is currently before the Maine Legislature: L.D. 1649, “An Act to Modernize Maine’s Solar Power Policy and Encourage Economic Development.”

Unfortunately, Gov. LePage opposes the bill, and members of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee are divided along party lines. This could leave Maine’s solar industry in a precarious place.

There is a real danger that Maine’s solar energy industry could die on the vine if the current net metering program is ended and the alternative provided by L.D. 1649 does not prevail. That is because the Maine Public Utilities Commission is poised to review net metering, the mechanism that enables folks with solar panels to get credit for the excess solar electricity they produce. There is much to like in L.D. 1649 for its own merits, but it is also important to recognize that inaction threatens to move Maine backward when we are already in last place for solar in New England.

The solar bill is worth fighting for. It was developed by the state’s public advocate, Tim Schneider, in a way that would ensure that solar electricity systems could be installed in Maine without benefiting some ratepayers over others; instead, all ratepayers would benefit. As a result of its market-based approach, the solar bill has the unprecedented support of Central Maine Power and Emera Maine as well as that of environmental groups and Maine’s solar installers. Several Maine municipalities also participated in the lengthy process to develop the bill, and it has the strong support of the Maine Municipal Association.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns about the bill based on short-term and incomplete data. An example of this is their seizing on the costs of the bill while ignoring the benefits. The public advocate and the PUC agree that the bill will almost immediately lower prices for ratepayers compared with the status quo. Over time the benefits will grow substantially as we capture the full value of distributed solar.

Leading municipalities like South Portland, as well as commercial and industrial firms and homeowners and community solar advocates, want the Legislature to take a harder look at L.D. 1649. As it stands now, net metering simply does not work for these segments.

Unlike residential rooftop solar systems, where net metering credits can be applied to kilowatt-hours of electricity used, larger electricity users – such as sewage treatment plants, grocery stores, large schools and manufacturing plants – pay most of their electricity charges based on their peak demand, not on total kilowatt-hours used during a billing cycle. Thus, the larger users get very little benefit from net metering.

In addition, the current arbitrary cap on shared solar installations in Maine stops groups from cooperating on larger or community solar projects. L.D. 1649 lifts those limits and creates a usable way for the rest of the economy to participate in solar energy.

South Portland is deeply committed to renewable energy solutions, and we are seeking a way to meet some of our energy needs with solar. If, as a state, we want to have any chance of catching up with the solar job creation that other New England states are enjoying, and if we want to see solar panels on top of shopping centers and factories as well as homes, we all need to support L.D. 1649 and demand that the Legislature enact this balanced solar policy.

The bill moves beyond a pattern of conflict over solar that we have seen between utilities and solar users or advocates, creating a truly innovative way to increase solar of all kinds and capture its benefit for all ratepayers. It has won broad support from virtually every stakeholder, and we hope it will gain broad bipartisan support from the Senate and House.

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