Energy costs are rising and will rise even further in the near future. Mainers need to be making plans to survive these increased costs. Maine homeowners and businesses will face hundreds of millions of dollars in additional energy costs this winter. The overall costs to the state economy more than justify an emergency effort to improve the energy efficiency of homes and businesses, and long-term energy solutions to promote clean, in-state power.
“An Act to Encourage Energy Independence” (LD 1931) would improve the efficiency of household furnaces and boilers, increase funding of Efficiency Maine, promote towns to adopt stronger building codes and train more school facilities managers on efficiency.
The Utilities and Energy Committee is drafting a bill to increase electricity generation from wind, solar, clean biomass, geothermal, landfill gas and tidal by 10 percent by 2017. This is an important step for cutting pollution from dirty energy and stabilizing electricity prices.
In addition, Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) has a program of rebates for solar installations. To learn more about this program, go to www.RenewMaine.org. Twenty-seven Maine residents have already installed solar units and received their rebates!
Our representatives in the Maine legislature need to support Maine’s efforts to cut energy waste and promote clean, in-state energy. And we all need to be considering how solar might help us offset the increased energy costs.
Sally Breen
Windham
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