The recommendation calls for energy storage projects that deliver cost savings for consumers while enhancing and modernizing the state’s electrical grid.
December 23, 2024
Augusta, MAINE – As directed by the Maine Legislature, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) today submitted a recommendation to the Maine Public Utilities Commission (Commission) to procure up to 200 megawatts (MW) of cost-effective energy storage for Maine that increases grid resilience, lowers electricity costs, maximizes federal incentives, and advances the state’s clean energy goals and statutory requirements.
“Energy storage is an essential tool that will help us build the grid of the future while stabilizing energy costs for Maine households and businesses,” said Dan Burgess, Director of GEO. “As we continue to diversify Maine’s energy resources to reduce our reliance on expensive, out-of-state fossil fuels, improved energy storage capacity will allow for flexible management of those resources and deliver affordable, reliable, clean energy for Maine people.”
"New energy storage capacity is essential for Maine as we work to upgrade our aging electrical infrastructure and ensure all people have access to affordable, reliable energy in our state,” said Senator Mark Lawrence, Chair of the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee. “This recommendation to the Commission and the study that underpins it demonstrate that energy storage is a cost-effective tool that enables flexible management of Maine’s electrical load – something we’ll need to meet our energy needs in the short and long term.”
“Energy storage is a critical component of a modern, efficient, and resilient electrical grid,” said Eliza Donoghue, Executive Director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association. “By investing in additional storage capacity, Maine is taking proactive steps to prepare the grid to meet the state’s energy needs well into the future, while supporting the integration of cost-effective, local, renewable energy to the grid.”
Energy storage can help customers and grid operators manage electric load from intermittent sources of energy, such as wind and solar, as well as provide backup power to the grid during peak usage or outages. Pursuit of cost-effective energy storage technology is important to Maine’s long-term energy and economic needs, as discussed in Maine’s Climate Action Plan, Maine Won't Wait, as well as the Maine's Draft Energy Plan which will be finalized and submitted to the Legislature next month.
In June 2021, Governor Mills signed bipartisan legislation which established goals for energy storage in Maine, including 300 megawatts (MW) installed by the end of 2025, and 400 MW installed by the end of 2030. Maine was the ninth U.S. state to adopt energy storage goals into state law.
To date, Maine has 63 MW of grid-connected energy storage capacity. This figure does not include storage that is still under construction, including a 175 MW, 2-hour project in Gorham as well as other projects which are still waiting to be connected to the grid. In addition, there are also several smaller, behind-the-meter (customer-sited) energy storage projects operating in the state.
In August 2024, Governor Mills and members of Maine’s Congressional Delegation announced that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $147 million grant to support an innovative 85 MW, 100-hour multi-day energy storage system in Lincoln, Maine to enhance grid resilience and optimize the delivery of renewable energy. The project, at the site of the former mill site in Lincoln, would be the first of its kind in New England and the largest long-duration energy storage project in the world to date.
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