MEXICO — Gov. Paul LePage fielded questions on energy and education costs, and how to properly govern the state during a town hall meeting Tuesday night at the Mountain Valley Middle School auditorium. LePage spoke on four “basic issues” he is making a priority in Augusta: reducing the income tax, reforming welfare by strengthening the […]
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Posted inBusiness, sj-web
National solar firms oppose Maine ‘net metering’ bill
AUGUSTA — Maine’s rooftop solar installers and the state’s major utilities have set aside their long-standing difference to strike a deal they say could increase solar power in the state tenfold in five years. National solar installation firms are trying to stop it. The Alliance for Solar Choice, a national group, and California-based Sunrun and […]
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Bad turn of events for Maine Red Claws in loss to Iowa Energy
The Red Claws (28-17) recently locked up a playoff spot, but on Friday night didn’t always play like a team ready for the postseason. They were missing guard Tim Frazier, who signed a 10-day contract with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans after winning consecutive D-League Performer of the Week awards, as well as Jordan Mickey, […]
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State Sen. Mike Thibodeau looks to cap Maine electric rates
AUGUSTA — An effort to cap electric rates in Maine at 10 cents a kilowatt hour or less will be voted on by the Legislature’s Energy Committee on Tuesday. But the bill, LD 1339, authored by Senate President Michael Thibodeau, R-Winterport, also calls for the suspension of the state’s renewable energy portfolio requirements if suppliers […]
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Bill to reduce electric rates for industry gets mixed review
AUGUSTA — A bill meant to help reduce the cost of electricity for Maine businesses received a mixed review Thursday before the Legislature’s Energy Committee. The legislation, LD 1398, sponsored by Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, would change the way funds from the state’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Trust Fund are distributed to electricity ratepayers starting […]
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Solar advocates rally as Maine PUC contemplates policy changes
HALLOWELL — Despite the gray overcast of a mid-December day, a coalition of advocates, who say state regulators need to do more to embrace and promote solar energy rallied outside the Maine Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday. “Maine needs solar jobs,” the group of about 50 people chanted at one point during their rally. Moments […]
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Paul LePage says Quebec hydropower key to lower energy costs
BOSTON — Quebec and New England officials called Friday for stepped up efforts to deliver hydropower across the U.S.-Canada border to the six-state region, arguing it would lower energy costs and help tackle climate change. Philippe Couillard, the premier of Quebec, said at an energy trade conference that his province was eager to enter into new […]
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Maine lawmakers tour Canadian hydropower facilities
PORTLAND — The leader of a bipartisan group of Maine lawmakers who traveled to Canada to learn about hydroelectric power production believes it could fill some of New England’s energy needs. House Republican leader Ken Fredette, chairman of the Maine Canadian Legislative Advisory Commission, was joined by four other members last week in Labrador, where […]
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How fracking is making firewood more expensive
CONCORD, N.H. — Northeasterners who are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for firewood this season can add a new scapegoat to the roster of usual market forces: fracking. Yep, a timber industry representative in New Hampshire said those hydraulic fracturing well sites in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formation to suck natural gas out of […]
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Maine gas prices drop 2.3 cents
PORTLAND — Gas prices in Maine have dropped 2.3 cents in the last week, averaging $2.20 a gallon. The result is from Gasbuddy.com, which surveyed 1,228 gas stations in the state. The national average has fallen 5.2 cents, to $2.20 a gallon. The price in Maine was 95.4 cents less per gallon than a year […]