WHEREAS, Maine is committed to a clean energy future and enjoys abundant forms of renewable energy that power homes and businesses across the State; and

WHEREAS, Maine has a Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and has a goal of 100 percent by 2050; and

WHEREAS, Maine leads New England in wind-powered generation; and

WHEREAS, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy named Maine its most improved state and ranked it 5th overall in its 2022 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard; and

WHEREAS, Maine's more than 14,500 clean energy jobs grow local economies and boost economic development; and

WHEREAS, Maine supports the strategic electrification of heating and transportation, and recently surpassed the goal of installing 100,000 new heat pumps by 2025 – two years ahead of time – and set a new target to install an additional 175,000 heat pumps by 2027; and

WHEREAS, recognizing the urgency of taking action to combat climate change, Maine has established mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and at least 80 percent by 2050, and created the Maine Climate Council that released the Maine Climate Action Plan that provides recommendations to meet these targets; and

WHEREAS, clean energy is part of America’s energy future and includes generation from renewable sources such as onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources, as well as energy storage; and

WHEREAS, the clean energy sector is an expanding part of the economy and has been a key driver of growth in Maine over the last decade, and Maine has a goal of more than doubling the clean energy workforce in the state to 30,000 jobs by 2030, growing local economies and boosting the state’s workforce and economic development;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the week of September 25th through 29th, 2023, as

National Clean Energy Week

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to recognize this observance.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this thirteenth day of September Two Thousand Twenty Three