OP-ED: Maine’s New Energy Authority Is a Blank Check With Your Name on It

Maine lawmakers are now considering LD 838 titled “An Act to Establish the Maine Clean Energy Authority,” a bill sponsored by Senator Mark Lawrence and co-sponsored by every Democrat member of the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee. Although the bill was originally introduced as a concept draft (commonly used as a bait-and-switch tactic within the legislature) a full amendment was just unveiled with less than a week’s notice to the public revealing sweeping and unprecedented powers that should alarm everyone in this state.

It is crucial that Mainers understand what is actually inside this proposal before it doesn’t become a liberal proposal, but the new normal in Maine. To ensure that doesn’t happen, we need your help.

Proponents of this bill will claim it modernizes energy transmission and advances Maine’s climate goals. But a closer look at the amendment shows it creates a powerful, unaccountable “Maine Clean Energy Authority.” This new entity will effectively be a shadowy, unelected, unaccountable but incredibly powerful entity with the ability to seize your land, borrow unlimited money, and steer Maine’s entire energy future without direct legislative oversight.

Here are the facts:

1. The Authority Can Seize Private Property

The amendment grants this new Authority the power to take private land through eminent domain. If the Authority decides a transmission corridor should run through your property, your objections — and even the objections of your town — hold no weight. This is not a minor administrative power. It is a sweeping tool capable of overriding Maine’s long-standing respect for private property rights.

2. The Authority Can Borrow Unlimited Money — Paid Back Through Your Electric Bill

LD 838 gives the Authority the ability to issue unlimited revenue bonds. Unlike traditional state borrowing, these bonds require no voter approval and have no limit. The Authority can accumulate billions in debt, and the repayment will come directly from Maine ratepayers through your monthly electric bill.

When large projects run over budget — as they often do — Mainers will be the ones left holding the bill. In essence, the Authority gets a blank check; you get the monthly payment.

3. Mandatory Labor Agreements Will Only Push Costs Higher

The amendment requires strict project labor agreements and union-only contracting for all major projects funded by the Authority. That means fewer competitive bids, higher construction costs, and ultimately higher energy bills.

At a time when Maine already faces some of the highest electricity costs in the country, LD 838 pushes prices in the wrong direction.

A Bureaucracy With Enormous Power — and No Accountability

Perhaps the most concerning detail is that the bill explicitly states the Maine Clean Energy Authority is not a state agency and not subject to administrative direction from any department. That means neither the Governor nor the legislature will have operational control over an entity with the power to reshape Maine’s energy system, take private land, and issue vast amounts of public debt.

A body with extraordinary authority and limited accountability is a recipe for long-term abuse and skyrocketing costs.

What This Means for Maine Families

Every decision this Authority makes carries a financial burden that lands squarely on the backs of ratepayers. Consider these consequences:

• Higher electricity rates from expensive new transmission,
• Inflationary project costs driven by union-only mandates,
• New fees and surcharges on your bills created by the Authority, and
• Massive debt obligations passed to future electric bills for decades.

It’s January in Maine. Democrats should be aware that Mainers are already struggling with high electricity and heating costs. Instead, they’re choosing to pour gas on the fire with ideas like LD 838 that would push those costs even higher while taking control away from voters and local communities.

What Maine needs and what this bill does are two opposite things. We need reforms from the legislature that lower our energy costs and respect our property rights.

I look forward to seeing as many Mainers as possible who are concerned about this bill, like I am, at the public hearing on January 20 at 1:00 PM in the Cross Building, Room 211. Come make sure your voice is heard before it’s too late.