Solar panels in Damariscotta, Maine. (Photo by Evan Houk/Maine Morning Star)
Gov. Janet Mills wants to create a new department focused on the state’s energy needs and goals.
In her upcoming biennial budget proposal, expected Friday, Mills will outline her plan to elevate the current Governor’s Energy Office to a Cabinet-level department. This would be a budget-neutral initiative that would allow for more comprehensive and consistent management of Maine’s energy system, a news release from the governor’s office said Wednesday.
If the budget proposal is approved by the Maine Legislature, the Governor’s Energy Office would transition to the Maine Department of Energy Resources by the end of this year. It would be headed by a commissioner, who would be appointed by the governor and subject to legislative confirmation.
In recent years, the Maine Legislature has significantly expanded the responsibilities of the Governor’s Energy Office. For example, the office has secured more than $200 million in federal funding to support electric grid resiliency and innovation, energy efficiency, and workforce development.
“By appointing a Cabinet seat focused solely on energy issues, Maine will be in a stronger position to provide more affordable energy, advance our energy goals and grow the state’s economy,” said Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office .
The new energy department would be the lead agency in energy resources, policy, planning, data, markets, energy security and program implementation; all of which currently fall under the Governor’s Energy Office.
Like those in other states, Maine’s new department would have additional authority to conduct competitive energy purchasing to meet the state’s energy and reliability needs. It would also continue to coordinate with the Maine Public Utilities Commission and other state, regional and federal partners.
State law requires Maine to transition to renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; However, this must be done while ensuring that Mainers will still have access to affordable, reliable and safe energy, said Maine Senator Mark Lawrence (D-York) and State Representative Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport), who serves as co-representative . chairs of the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, in a joint statement.
In 2022, Mills signed into law a state goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The following year, she set a new goal of 100% clean electricity by 2040. She also founded the Maine Climate Council, which is responsible for the state’s conservation efforts. four-year step-by-step plan to achieve these and other climate goals.
“Regular planning, review and outreach by a dedicated agency will provide the consistency needed to keep Maine on track toward these goals,” Lawrence and Sachs said in the release. “There’s a reason why this concept has been proposed before in a bipartisan manner.”
Maine also has one goal of creating three gigawatts of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine – enough to generate energy between them 675,000 and 900,000 houses – installed by the end of 2040. While the state was granted a rental contract For a research array with up to twelve floating turbines to help inform how floating offshore wind energy works and interacts with aquatic ecosystems, the future of the renewable energy source is at stake, as President-elect Donald Trump has said he would try to shut down all offshore wind projects.
In 2017, during the LePage administration, State Representative Kenneth Fredette (R-Newport) introduced legislation to establish an energy seat in the Cabinet that would be responsible for energy planning, data analysis and the implementation of a plan to reduce dependence on oil. The bill was supported at the time by the Legislature’s energy committee, but died after adjournment.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday that it supports Mills’ proposal, noting that energy is one of the most pressing issues facing the state’s economy.
“Addressing energy affordability and meeting our state’s climate goals will require careful planning and execution and the House looks forward to working with the Administration on these efforts, with a Cabinet-level Energy Department leading that effort ,” said president and CEO Patrick Woodcock in the press release. .
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