Bangor and four other Maine municipalities saw new community solar farms go into operation in November, adding a total of 25 megawatts of power to the grid, according to Ampion Renewable Energy, the company managing the sites.
That adds to the 630 megawatts of community solar operational in Maine over 453 projects, according to state data. The number of community solar farms, which are smaller installations of about 5 megawatts each, has soared since the state passed a law in 2019 subsidizing them in an effort to boost solar development in Maine and work toward the state’s clean energy goals. Subscribers to the solar farms get a credit on their monthly electric bill from their utility company, which pays the community solar provider for solar energy.
But those state incentives have created controversy because the people who do not subscribe to the community solar projects pick up that cost in their electricity bill. Community solar projects are expected to cost electricity customers $220 million a year by 2025, with the increase continuing for the next 20 years, Maine Public Advocate Bill Harwood said. Those rising costs could potentially harm Maine’s goal to reduce fossil fuel dependence.
But the popular farms continue to grow in the state. The solar farms save local subscribers about 15 percent on their electric bill, Luis de Leon, a spokesperson for the company, said. The farms combined can produce more than 28 million kilowatt hours of energy annually, according to the company, enough to power about 2,800 homes.
Ampion Renewable enrolled 1,700 residential and 70 commercial customers at its five sites. The Boston-based company manages 48 community solar projects in Maine totaling 215 megawatts, Leon said. Founder and CEO Nate Owen started the company in Bar Harbor in 2014, and attended high school and college in Maine. About 10 percent of its employees reside in Maine, and it said it will hire more as it expands in the state.
Three of the five locations are fully subscribed, Leon said. The Aroostook County town of Masardis has a 7 megawatt solar farm with nearly 700 subscribers. Bangor’s 5 megawatt farm provides power to 450 subscribers in Penobscot County, and the 4 megawatt Rangeley solar farm in Franklin County has 530 subscribers, the spokesperson said. He declined to name the other two towns that are not yet fully subscribed.
Environment reporter Lori Valigra may be reached at [email protected]. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation, a fund at the Maine Community Foundation, and donations by BDN readers.
