CMP and Maine’s Public Utilities Commission continue to wage war on solar power. A public hearing next Tuesday offers you a chance to express your disappointment in their latest attach which will make solar less accessible for Mainers by doubling the fee to connect solar panels to the electrical grid.
Here’s the story, with more information about the hearing, from the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
NRCM Alert
They’re at it again.
Foreign-owned electricity monopoly Central Maine Power (CMP) and the LePage-appointed Public Utilities Commission (PUC) want to make solar less accessible for Mainers by DOUBLING the fee to connect solar panels to the electrical grid. This is just the latest in a relentless series of assaults on Maine people and the ability of businesses to generate their own power.
Please come to the PUC at 2:30 for a 3:00 p.m. hearing on Tuesday, December 12. NRCM will be there voicing our opposition to this and we hope you will join us. The more people show their support for solar, the better.
The CMP-PUC attack on solar and electricity customers isn’t new, but it is getting worse. Earlier this year, CMP-PUC brought us the net metering rollback that even lets utilities charge customers a new tax on the power they make and use themselves on-site.
This summer, CMP aggressively lobbied against a bill that would’ve overturned that rule and protected all Maine electricity customers from millions of dollars in new costs. This fall, CMP petitioned the PUC to allow an additional charge to solar customers for the extra meters the company will use to calculate its new solar tax! What is going on here?!
Many Mainers don’t realize that CMP is a foreign-owned monopoly that makes its money (a 12% guaranteed rate of return!) by building power lines and poles at ratepayer expense. More solar in Maine means fewer lines and poles, which means less profit for CMP’s shareholders. That’s why CMP is teaming up with other backward utilities from out-of-state, in their coordinated campaign to halt rooftop solar.
We need to be making solar more accessible to all Mainers, if we are to create more jobs, increase our energy independence, and protect our environment. It’s time to put the “Public” back in Public Utilities Commission and stand up for consumers, not monopolies. Please come join us in opposing the misguided new anti-solar interconnection fees and tell the PUC and CMP to stop taking Maine backward!
When: Tuesday, December 12. Please join us at 2:30 p.m. for a 3:00 p.m.hearing.
Where: Public Utilities Commission, 101 Second Street, Hallowell, Maine 04347
What: A hearing on doubling the cost to connect solar installations to the grid
Please let me know if you can attend by emailing me. We’ll have more information and materials for you soon.
Thanks,
Sophie Janeway, sjaneway@nrcm.org
Climate and Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator