Utilities whose businesses span rural and urban terrain can gain when they support the rollout of electric vehicle charging networks. This memo sets a framework for Maine's utility to meet policy objectives and secure market position.
(Photo by Don and Suzan Weller, via Flickr Creative Commons.) As the sun sets over Waterford, CT, an expert proposes a price floor in wholesale electricity markets.
As New England states progress towards decarbonization goals, the electricity spot market will see offers from solar and wind generators that incur no marginal cost. That can harm reliability and put some operators hastily out of business. To retain existing resources and the stability they bring, we need to set...
Battery storage systems and virtual power plants offer an opportunity for individual ratepayers to improve energy reliability and contribute to Maine’s clean energy goals. Maine has several options for protecting and incentivizing ratepayers, especially low-income ratepayers, to own battery storage systems and join virtual power plant programs.
(Photo by Hugh Kenny, Piedmont Environmental Council.) A solar array in Virginia stands for the kinds of investment that could crowd in with a properly targeted federal carbon price.
Climate scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report warned that without immediate large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will cause devastating economic and human losses. Policymakers must come together to implement a comprehensive climate change strategy in the United States.
This November 2 forecast of a referendum in Maine spells out the decarbonization case for and political case against a hydropower project. (Voters spurned the project on Election Day.)
In 2015 Hawaii became the first U.S. state to mandate a total transition to renewable energy. With exceptionally high energy prices and an ingrained environmental ethos, Hawaii has positioned itself as a pioneer in the quest to move toward a future free of fossil fuels.
Dylan Voorhees / Photo courtesy of Natural Resources Council of Maine
Maine’s renewable energy landscape is poised for big changes. Legislation passed into law in June establishes greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and an ambitious renewable portfolio standard. In this interview, Dylan Voorhees, climate and clean energy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, explains what the new laws mean...
On June 26th, Governor Janet Mills signed new legislation to broaden customer access to net metering (known in Maine as net energy billing) and to promote distributed energy generation, including through competitive procurements for long-term contracts with the state’s transmission and distribution utilities.
