Community solar is booming in Maine, but who owns the projects?

By Murray Carpenter
July 21, 2024

A Maine Monitor analysis finds developers have bundled projects, then sold them to some of the world’s largest corporations and investment firms.

Maine’s community solar program, commonly known as net energy billing, has been wildly successful in incentivizing the development of small-scale solar power projects. They’ve popped up like mushrooms as developers chase the deals codified by state lawmakers, allowing them to sell power at a premium above market rates. 

Some critics point out that the situation has also allowed large corporations and private equity firms to pocket Maine ratepayers’ cash. But a Maine Monitor analysis found it’s hard to track this pattern because the ownership is often opaque, and no state entity keeps tabs on it. 

Community solar — which includes projects producing less than 5 megawatts of energy — is a bit complicated. Subscribers don’t receive power directly from the projects, but instead get credits for the power that is generated. The credits offset their electricity use, and should lower their electricity bills, while supporting renewable energy. 

According to a new solar dashboard developed by the Governor’s Energy Office, the state has 453 projects totaling 630 megawatts of operational solar energy in its net energy billing programs developed since the enabling legislation passed in 2019. (The figure excludes residential rooftop solar.) 

Although the Governor’s Energy Office tallies the power generated by the projects, it does not track ownership. The Public Utilities Commission posts reports filed by Central Maine Power and Versant that show the projects participating in net energy billing, but the owners are redacted. 

Corporate deals

While it’s hard to get details, corporate press releases offer glimpses into the deals. 

In March 2021, Nautilus Solar, owned by Power Corporation of Canada, announced it was buying solar projects in Cumberland, Knox, Oxford and York counties. Nautilus bought two projects in Aroostook County later that year. 

In December 2021, Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced it was buying 11 solar projects in the net energy billing program from a Pennsylvania developer, Dynamic Energy. (Goldman Sachs has since spun off its solar holdings into a new corporation called MN8 Energy.)

In January 2022, Distributed Solar Generation, owned by BlackRock, said it was buying net energy billing projects in Rumford and Windham from Mainely Solar.

These corporate deals appear to include projects that are permitted but not yet constructed, so it’s hard to know what percentage they represent of the operational energy in Maine. Two more large corporations account for a significant amount of the energy produced in the net energy billing program. 

In December 2022, the Brookfield company Luminace bought net energy billing solar projects in Bristol, Emden and Woolwich, with 21.6 megawatts of capacity, from EDF Renewable. Between Luminance and Standard Solar, Brookfield companies have a capacity of about 113 megawatts of Maine solar.

Nexamp, owned by Mitsubishi, has about two dozen projects totaling 165 megawatts of capacity in the net energy billing program, with more in the pipeline. (Disclosure: This reporter is a Nexamp subscriber). 

Unlike the projects developers have bundled and sold, spokesperson Keith Hevenor said Nexamp has an integrated business model. “We own and operate all of our projects for the long term,” he said, “handling everything from development and engineering to construction, operation and customer management in-house.”

Concerns over ownership

Lawmakers and other observers have questioned where the money being poured into community solar programs is ending up.

Rep. Sophie Warren (D-Scarborough) ran for the legislature to take action on climate change. She supports solar energy but takes issue with the structure of the program.

“I really do believe … that a majority of Mainers don’t want to see us paying for projects out of our utility bills to corporations and private equity interests,” Warren said. “I think that’s wholly inappropriate. We’ve got to move beyond just fighting climate change to doing it in a way that is just.”

Warren said she would rather see larger, grid-scale solar projects that can produce power at lower rates. And she feels the current program is regressive because ratepayers bear the cost. 

Article continues at https://themainemonitor.org/community-solar-ownership/

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