By: Rep. Kilton Webb, D-Durham
As a licensed electrician and a sitting member of the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, I have worked to support changes to Maine’s solar incentive program, which will ultimately save us all money.
While on the campaign trail last year, I listened closely to my fellow community members in Durham, Pownal, Lisbon, Bowdoin and Topsham. Through those conversations, two overarching issues became clear: property taxes are increasingly burdening people and we need to more seriously look at how our energy infrastructure, including our current solar incentive program, might be raising our electricity costs.
Maine’s solar incentive program was a topic that, going into the first legislative session, I did not know much about. As an electrician here in Maine, I have built several solar fields financed by this program, but I only knew the basics. In order to be effective in the Legislature, I needed to figure out how to best reduce energy costs for taxpayers.
According to the Maine Office of the Public Advocate, our solar incentive program has generated an estimated $160 million in ratepayer benefits by limiting transmission and distribution costs. Amazingly, these savings continue during our warm summer as we blast our air conditioning systems. But because there are no income guidelines or priority given to people living with low income, many working families, older Mainers and people on fixed incomes have been taxed to help pay for the savings that community solar subscribers receive at an estimated cost of $235 to $240 million.
With those figures in mind, our task on the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee was clear – we had to better align benefits and costs to help support Mainers in this difficult and uncertain fiscal environment.
This past legislative session, over 10 separate bills looked to do everything from minor changes to a full repeal of solar incentives. Between the many informational meetings, public hearings and work sessions on each bill, it became increasingly clear to me that our solar incentive program had been successful in the past, but needed serious modernization to meet today’s demands.
LD 1777, sponsored by Rep. Sophie Warren, D-Scarborough, and cosponsored by Rep. Steve Foster, R-Dexter, offered a path forward to produce meaningful savings for ratepayers while preserving the program so as to not bankrupt solar developers or contractors – a difficult and delicate balance to find.
LD 1777 achieves two important things: it slows down the accelerating costs of community solar fields while keeping the successful and ratepayer-positive rooftop solar program intact. It also allows for a successor program to be designed in 2026 that can be tailored to meet the new and changing needs of Maine’s electrical grid and the people who use it every day.
Ultimately, the passage of this bill – which was signed into law in late June – will save taxpayers an estimated $1.2 billion over the next 16 years.
What is perhaps most remarkable about LD 1777, beyond the savings provided, is that real, bipartisan compromise was achieved. At the beginning of the session, the prospect of getting a bill about solar energy to receive unanimous support in the House and Senate seemed impossible. Yet, after many hours of work, every member of both chambers of the Legislature voted to move the bill forward on its path to become law – an incredible feat to say the least.
I support community solar as a clean energy source, however, the program as it existed had serious flaws. Now, we are in a better position to alleviate the burden of excess taxes while sustaining our solar incentive program. Digging in and doing the hard work was worth it to help our community members save money on their electricity bills.
Rep. Kilton Webb is serving his first term in the Maine House and represents House District 98, which includes Durham, Pownal and portions of Lisbon, Bowdoin and Topsham. He serves on the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.