The Maine Legislature created rules for “net energy billing” in 2011. System size was limited to 660 kilowatts and a maximum of 10 participants were allowed per facility.
Under Maine’s net metering system, participants are required to have actual ownership of the generation facility. Flexible participation models are precluded, meaning no leasing or temporary subscriptions are allowed.
Maine expanded net energy billing in 2019 through L.D. 1711, raising the limit on community solar garden capacity to five megawatts and directing the PUC to establish a commercial solar tariff program to generate 350 megawatts of energy.
Watch the top state community solar programs progress in our National Community Solar Programs Tracker.
Check back soon for more detail about the Maine community solar program.
For more on solar in Maine, check out these ILSR resources:
- Mainers Consider Putting Electricity, Internet in Local Hands (2020)
- Solar Net Metering a Subsidy to Utilities? (2015)
Learn more about community solar in one of these ILSR reports:
For podcasts, videos, and more, see ILSR’s community renewable energy archive.
This article was originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter or get the Energy Democracy weekly update.
Featured photo credit: Allagash Brewing via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)
