Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills has signed into law a proposal aimed at reining in costs of the state’s solar subsidy program that has been the subject of numerous changes and intense lobbying since it launched in 2019.
Rep. Sophie Warren, D-Scarborough, put forward the measure that was backed by Maine’s ratepayer advocate and included a long list of changes, such as capping annual increases in the subsidy program known as net energy billing. Public Advocate Heather Sanborn’s office estimated the changes would save ratepayers about $1.2 billion over the next 16 years, or roughly $3 per month for residents.
Mills signed the bill into law Friday. Solar firms and clean energy advocates pushed back on Warren’s proposal by saying it would slash a program benefiting roughly 100,000 Mainers and force various developers to default on their loans. Opponents are also leery about a provision directing the Governor’s Energy Office to design and submit a successor program to the Public Utilities Commission by September 2026.
Warren, however, said it would protect small projects and ensure solar developers still earn a fair return while limiting the steep rate hikes that Mainers have borne in recent years.
The net energy billing program was created by a Republican-sponsored bill that Mills signed in 2019. It has boosted solar adoption but led the public advocate’s office to warn of growing costs that now top $234 million for Maine ratepayers, including those not participating in the program.
“We need to keep supporting solar, but we also need to make sure the program doesn’t place unnecessary costs on Maine families and small businesses,” Warren said earlier in June.
