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Gov. Janet Mills and the new legislature is moving quickly to reverse the wrong direction Maine’s solar policy has gone over the last 8 years.
The first order of business is rolling back Gross Metering , the unfair, likely illegal, and expensive boondoggle LePage’s PUC developed as a way to stymie solar development.
Gross metering proved to be so burdensome to implement, that the PUC conceded that it made no sense for mid-sized businesses and withdrew it . Now, the Legislature is moving quickly to extend the same right to residential customers and small businesses!
Rep. Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham) has introduced LD 91, an emergency bill which would eliminate gross metering and reset Maine’s solar policy to be identical to the previous net metering 1:1 credit system, which has been repeatedly demonstrated to be simple, effective, and fair (in fact generating more value to the system than solar generators receive as a benefit).
We see Rep. Berry’s bill as a solid first step, clearing the slate so that Maine can look at a more ambitious, total reform to solar policy (inclusive of a much broader suite of technologies and market-driven signals) which will take more time to figure out.
What Does This Mean for Me?
If you’re looking to go solar, now is the time to get things started! A restoration of full net metering will help improve solar economics a bit, and we expect all people signed up under current ‘gross metering’ will have full 1:1 compensation restored when the new policy takes effect.
As we’ve previously mentioned, the federal tax credit drops slightly (26% to 26%) at the end of 2019, meaning our spring solar queue (in Maine and across all territories) is filling up rapidly!
Now’s the best time to get in touch to lock in an excellent rate for a solar project under the full 26% tax credit.
