Solar for ME

Solar Power for Maine People

Maine is on a disastrous path — if it ever wants to benefit from solar energy

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Via the Bangor Daily News:

After lawmakers last year failed to pass legislation to update the state’s rules around solar energy sales, the Maine Public Utilities Commission has adopted rules that are unworkable, will unnecessarily cost ratepayers millions of dollars, and do nothing to encourage needed development of solar energy resources in the state.

Lawmakers again have an opportunity to put Maine on a better course. But, unlike last year, enough of them must vote for what is best for all Mainers and not let themselves be bullied by Gov. Paul LePage.

With starkly different goals in mind, the governor, the public advocate and utility companies have all sought to end net metering in Maine in recent years. This was part of a national effort to end the practice of allowing people who generate solar power at their homes to sell the power they don’t use to the electrical grid. Net metering opponents argue that the setup is unfair to other utility customers because when these small solar power generators sell their power, they aren’t bearing the same fixed costs to maintain the power lines and other infrastructure needed to power the entire grid.

Read the whole editorial at the BDN link above.

Maine’s solar industry can employ the next generation

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Special to the BDN by Holly Noyes (link)

Maine has an opportunity to provide well-paying, long-term careers to the next generation, so long as policymakers embrace solar energy policy this session. Maine’s solar workforce grew by 73 percent from 2015 to 2016, making Maine one of the top 10 states nationwide in per capita solar job growth. If policymakers support this growth by reinstating solar net metering this legislative session, more Mainers like me will be able to return home to find jobs in the burgeoning solar industry.

Solar’s potential is promising for Maine’s economic future, especially for a state that has lost jobs due to globalization and outsourcing. The closure of many of Maine’s paper mills provides a good example of how industry changes have hit longtime Mainers hardest. Innovations in solar can employ the next generation of Mainers.

Maine is challenged by high energy costs and retaining young workers. I have firsthand experience with both challenges. I grew up on a dairy farm in Albion that my family started in the 1940s, where we still ship milk today. I left Maine after graduating from Bates College in 2010 to gain broader work experience and pay off my student loans. I always knew that I wanted to get back to Maine, but I couldn’t until I found a good job with a solar company.

I know that I’m just one of 572 other solar workers here in the state who all have unique stories on how we transitioned into this growing industry. Maine’s solar jobs cannot be exported. The jobs provide opportunities for young Mainers like me and those looking to transition into the economy of the future.

Right now, policymakers have a choice when it comes to supporting smart solar energy policy, and they shouldn’t be afraid of a veto threat. There are several solar bills aimed at expanding residential, community and commercial solar, any of which work well in Maine and create jobs.

If good solar policy is enacted, it can further spur local job growth for rural areas where jobs are needed not only through direct solar employment, but also by providing Maine companies an opportunity to invest in lowering their energy costs to improve their competitiveness over time. Supporting policy that expands solar energy access for Maine businesses and farms will create predictable and manageable energy costs, so businesses can grow and hire more people.

On a national scale, one in 50 new jobs added to the U.S. economy in 2016 was created by the solar industry. Clean technology jobs are the future for our country. Maine has an opportunity to catch up by adopting pro-solar policy this session.

Further, the United States is on a path to replace an estimated 70 percent of grid infrastructure that is nearing the end of its useful life. Utilities are spending billions of dollars to add capacity to our grid, while our actual electricity demand is flat. A distributed generation model is one of the best opportunities we have to create a lower cost and more reliable modern infrastructure and bypass these expenditures.

I encourage the Legislature to support solar policies that expand job opportunities for the next generation of Mainers and reflect the economy of tomorrow.

Holly Noyes is the public relations manager at ReVision Energy. She lives in Palermo.

Maine Solar Workers Take to Social Media for “Solar Workers Day” – #SolarJobsForME

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Solar workers from across Maine will use social media today to post stories and photos of the work they do using the hashtag #SolarJobsForME

Though Maine has had no state solar rebate since 2010, Maine’s solar industry – comprised of independently owned, small businesses – has grown steadily in the past 7 seven years, thanks to the rapid decline in the costs of solar equipment. Maine’s solar workforce grew by 73% from 2015-16, making Maine one of the top 10 states nationwide in per-capita solar job growth.

Despite its tremendous growth potential, Maine’s solar industry finds itself under threat from an extreme anti-solar rule change by Maine’s Public Utilities Commission. Though the Maine PUC conducted a ‘Value of Solar’ study which found that solar exported to the grid is a net value to everyone, the PUC has ruled to throttle down net metering benefits over time and to create a new tax on behind-the-meter solar production (similar to letting a grocery store charge people for growing their own tomatoes). This backwards-looking rule change, should it come into effect, would threaten the existing 570+ solar jobs in Maine and erode the ability of the industry to add new jobs to Maine’s economy.

Maine’s solar workers are using the May 1 “Maine Solar Workers Day” online event to capture the attention of Maine’s Legislature, who will soon be evaluating several solar bills which could potentially fix the PUC’s ruling and stabilize Maine solar policy. Maine’s solar industry asks for an energy policy that moves away from a monopoly model and towards a market-driven approach that leverages different technologies and different business models to unlock economic opportunities locally and to lower costs (and carbon pollution) for everyone.

For any media interested, ReVision Energy is able to facilitate visits to solar job sites at various locations in Maine.

Some stats on solar jobs (via The Solar Foundation):

  • One out of every 50 new jobs added in the United States in 2016 was created by the solar industry, representing 2% percent of all new jobs.
  • Over the next 12 months, employers surveyed expect to see total solar industry employment increase by 10 percent to 286,335 solar workers.
  • The solar workforce nationwide employs nearly double the number of workers in the coal industry, and more than Apple, Facebook, and Google combined.

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