A lot may be on the line for Maine’s energy policy in a second Trump presidency.

From federal money supporting electric heat pumps and electric vehicles to expanding a network of chargers and building a wind port on Penobscot Bay, the state looks to Washington for millions of dollars to advance its clean energy and climate goals. Starting in January, the federal government’s executive branch, which controls billions of dollars in energy funding, will be headed by President-elect Donald Trump, who favors fossil fuels over zero-carbon energy he calls a “green new scam.”

The greatest threat from the Trump administration to Maine’s energy and climate policies could be to its offshore wind initiatives, said Andrew Price, president and chief executive officer of Competitive Energy Services, a consulting group in Portland.

“The things that require the federal government to move forward – like offshore wind – that are climate-related, I think are in trouble,” he said.

Federal leases auctioned for about $22 million to Avangrid Inc. and Invenergy in the Gulf of Maine on Oct. 29 must be approved following a “lengthy and arduous permitting process,” Price said.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to throw sand in the gears,” he said. “I’m very pessimistic about how this impacts offshore wind, which is a big hit to climate goals for a lot of states.”

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Trump has criticized offshore wind power, citing potential impacts on birds and whales, and vowing to disrupt President Biden’s target of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, a goal unlikely to have been achieved regardless of the outcome of the election.

Trump’s new policies could take the form of requiring new studies and pausing offshore wind permitting.

Maine officials say they will continue to seek funding to build an offshore wind port at Sears Island following the federal government’s rejection of an application for a $456 million grant. It’s not clear the Trump administration would approve funding. Paul Merrill, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said state officials “will continue to evaluate funding opportunities moving forward.”

On another energy front, Maine receives millions of dollars to electrify heating and cooling for homes and businesses and to expand the state’s network of electric vehicles. Gov. Janet Mills has promoted electric heat pump installations, and millions of dollars have been spent over the last decade to subsidize the heating and cooling equipment for homes and businesses. She announced in July that Maine will receive between $45 million and $72 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to install electric heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.

And $35 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for heat pumps has already begun to arrive in Maine. A second round of $35 million is expected to begin showing up in Maine in January, according to Efficiency Maine Trust, the quasi-state agency directing energy efficiency policy.

In addition, Mills announced in June the state will add 52 high-speed electric vehicle charging stations at 17 locations in the next year, with many in rural areas, supported by $8.6 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, which is funded by COVID-era federal American Rescue Plan money, and a settlement with the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project.

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Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine, said he does not anticipate an end to federal support for EV chargers and electric heat pumps. Funding is under contract and has been set aside, he said.

He cautioned that “someone more expert in federal procurement rules” might have better information, but he doesn’t believe it would be easy for the executive branch of the federal government to claw back funding headed to Maine. And he said federal money for electrification projects is only a portion of funding available, with money also from ratepayers and other sources.

State law requires Maine to reduce its 1990-level heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, to 17.3 million metric tons from 31.4 million metric tons. As of 2021, the last data available, Maine had achieved a 30% reduction. Hannah Pingree, director of the Maine Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, said in an email it’s the result of weatherizing homes, installing heat pumps and promoting renewable energy such as solar and wind power.

Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, said he could not speculate about what might be in store for continued federal funding for offshore wind or for subsidies electrifying buildings and installing electric vehicle chargers. In an emailed statement he said the state expects federal energy and environmental policy will change with the new administration, although the “exact nature of that change remains to be seen.”

Biden has sought to spur a vast expansion of zero-carbon energy generation with the Inflation Reduction Act that authorized nearly $800 billion in spending, loans and tax credits to spur the development of solar, wind, energy storage and other zero-carbon sources of energy.

IMPACT DOWNPLAYED

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Trump, by contrast, has targeted policies limiting tailpipe emissions that are intended to boost electric vehicle sales, promises to increase natural gas and oil drilling on public land and in offshore areas, has pledged to end a Biden administration moratorium on new permits to export liquefied natural gas and pursue other policies by executive order or legislation.

The American Clean Power Association, which represents energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, hydrogen and transmission companies, on Wednesday downplayed negative consequences to energy policy from a second Trump presidency.

“Our industry grew by double digits each year under the first Trump administration and has accelerated this rate of progress since,” the industry group said.

In a play for Trump’s geographic base of support, it said private sector investment in non-fossil fuel energy is “bringing jobs and economic opportunity to small towns and rural communities across the nation.”

Price said he sees few opportunities for the Trump administration to pull the plug on funding for battery manufacturing plants and other clean energy projects paid for by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and that have congressional support.

“I’m not totally dismissing the impact on the IRA. I think it will be a little bit harder,” he said.

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