Policy change virtually stops new community solar development in Maine
Lawmakers are trying to find solutions to the mounting economic weight of energy costs on utility customers. To address this, the Maine Legislature revised its net energy billing (NEB) program for non-residential participants last year, but in the process, it halted the state’s community solar market.
Nautilus Solar built a community solar farm on a former sand quarry in North Berwick, Maine. Credit: Nautilus Solar
“There’s not a lot the legislature can do to change the price of natural gas, when that is changed by wars overseas,” said Kate Daniel, Northeast regional director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access. “Solar programs are something they can touch, and even through it’s not the driver of the bill, it makes them feel like they’re doing something.”
LD 1777 prohibits Maine utilities from accepting new community solar projects, reduces the utility payments generated from community arrays and, in an industry first, applies retroactive monthly fees on certain existing community solar projects.
Read the full story here!