Committee Unanimously Rejects Bill Jeopardizing Home Rule Over Renewable Energy Regulation

By Libby Palanza

March 6, 2026

Maine’s Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee has unanimously voted to reject a proposal that would have overridden local ordinances on renewable energy development.

Originally introduced as an entirely different measure, a sponsor’s amendment shared last month overhauled LD 2174 by striking and replacing its contents, as well as giving it a new title.

Under the proposed amendment, brought forward by Rep. Christopher J. Kessler (D-South Portland), any local ordinances pertaining to renewable energy development that were “more stringent” than those included in state law would have been void and had “no force or effect.”

Impacted by this provision would have been ordinances regulating solar energy developments, wind energy developments, energy storage system developments, and high-impact electric transmission lines.

In other words, the bill was poised to override municipalities’ home rule regarding the regulation of renewable energy developments, nullifying any standards that are stricter than those set by the state.

Read the full article at https://www.themainewire.com/2026/03/committee-unanimously-rejects-...

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Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain 14 hours ago

Paramount Skydance Chief David Ellison: CNN Will ‘Be in the Truth Business’ After Warner Bros. Merger
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/03/05/paramount-skydan...

Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain 14 hours ago

OUTRAGEOUS: Nancy Mace Confirms RINOs TEAMED UP with Democrats to KILL Her Subpoena on Ilhan Omar’s Immigration Fraud Records — “That’s Congress for You… Because Both Sides Protect the Other”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/03/outrageous-nancy-mace-conf...

Comment by Dan McKay 14 hours ago

This should be the beginning of the end of wind, solar and battery projects using the grid to rape the Maine people of 2 Billion dollars over the past decade. Reparations are in order.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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