As someone fairly new to the South Portland area, I remember recently driving over the Casco Bay Bridge and being astounded by the vitality of the working waterfront. From commercial fishing boats unloading their catches at the piers, to ferries shuttling people to and from the islands, to marine terminals provisioning our state with energy resources, it’s a marvel to see our coast so utilized. Our waterfront terminals receive petroleum shipments, a significant source of energy not only for our city but for the whole state.
Here’s some information about petroleum, renewable energy and how to sign up for our upcoming Coffee and Climate with Sprague Energy.
Workers fills oil trucks at the Sprague Terminal in South Portland in 2022. File photo / Portland Press Herald
Terminal infrastructure
Petroleum is a widely used resource in Maine for both heating and transportation. As of 2016, petroleum supplied half of the energy consumed in Maine, and 50% of the petroleum consumed in Maine entered through the Port of Portland. The terminal infrastructure at the port, located in South Portland, plays a significant role in the state’s petroleum supply chain, with seven terminals and a total storage capacity of 8.6 million barrels. Refined products arriving at the port are transported within the state via the 124-mile Buckeye Pipeline, running from the port to the Buckeye terminal in Bangor. There is also a pipeline from South Portland to Canada that has transported foreign crude oil since World War II, but which has largely been dormant due to market competition from the Canadian tar sands.
Goal to transition
While petroleum is currently a major source of energy in Maine, the state – like the city of South Portland – has a long-term goal to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy by promoting beneficial electrification. Beneficial electrification is a term for replacing direct fossil fuel use with electricity in a way that reduces overall emissions and energy costs. To reduce dependence on oil for heating for instance, Maine has adopted an ambitious goal to transition homes to air source heat pumps. Last September, the state met its goal of installing 100,000 heat pumps in households two years ahead of schedule, and is aiming to install another 175,000 by 2027. Maine has similar incentives for electric vehicles.
But what about our electricity? Maine’s renewable portfolio standard establishes the portion of electricity sold in the state that must be supplied by renewable energy resources. In 2019, Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation that increased Maine’s RPS to 80% by 2030 and set a goal of 100% by 2050. Hydroelectric dams, wind turbines and wood and wood-derived fuels currently supply most of the state’s renewable generation. Solar energy also contributes a small amount from both utility-scale (1 megawatt and larger) and customer-sited, small-scale (less than 1 megawatt) photovoltaic, or solar panel, installations.
One of the biggest challenges that our state, country and even the world face is the transition from old infrastructure to new renewable infrastructure, posing a difficult cost to an integrated system dependent on oil. Sprague Energy has an extensive network of owned and controlled terminals located throughout the Northeast, and Portland and South Portland’s terminals have been established for almost two decades.
Coffee and Climate
Grab a cup of coffee and join us for this month’s Coffee and Climate on Zoom from 9 to 10 a.m. Friday, April 12. The One Climate Future Team will be joined by Tim Winters, vice president of operations at Sprague Energy. We are excited to discuss energy resources, coastal resilience and energy transitioning.
Register online with the link at oneclimatefuture.org.
Jenna d’Arcy is an AmeriCorps/GPCOG Resilience Corps Fellow serving in the Sustainability Office through September 2024. She can be reached at jdarcy@southportland.org. Our Sustainable City is a recurring column in the Sentry to provide residents with news and information about sustainability initiatives in South Portland. Follow the Sustainability Office on Instagram @soposustainability.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
