New bill could make solar power more accessible to Maine renters
Cost benefit analysis??????????????
New bill could make solar power more accessible to Maine renters
By: AnnMarie Hilton - January 7, 2026
Lawmakers are considering a proposal that could help Maine renters lower electricity costs through the use of solar energy.
State Sen. Nicole Grohoski (D-Hancock) said LD 1730 would allow for small, plug-in solar units so renters and other Mainers can access the renewable energy source without the large upfront investment of traditional panels and without adding costs to the state or other ratepayers.
“For many of my neighbors, especially those who rent their homes or live in apartments, solar panels seem meant for someone else,” Grohoski said. “If you don’t own your roof or you don’t have thousands of dollars for an upfront investment, the savings that solar generates can feel out of reach.”
When introducing the bill to the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee during a public hearing Tuesday afternoon, she said these sorts of units cost less to install than traditional roof panels and don’t require any permanent modifications to the property.
Lawmakers in Vermont and New Hampshire are also looking into welcoming these systems, which have already taken off in Europe. More than a million such units have been deployed in Germany.
Grohoski said the portable solar devices would not be included in the state’s net energy b......................................
Continue reading at https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/01/07/new-bill-could-make-solar-p...
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Comment by Thinklike A. Mountain 27 minutes ago
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Should de-naturalizing citizenship for aiders & abettors be an option?
Radical leftist groups, including one financed with $7.8 million from progressive billionaire George Soros, are behind the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota, The Post has learned.
https://nypost.com/2026/01/08/us-news/heres-whos-really-behind-the-...
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Comment by Dan McKay 18 hours ago
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It would be fair if people who remain on grid power and install these devices would be required to meter the output from these devices and pay the corresponding avoided delivery costs to the utility instead of expecting fellow ratepayers to pay it for them. I seriously doubt that these devices can produce at less that the 12 cents per kilowatt hour that supply from the grid costs.
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Further testimony revealed that these units will require an electrician to install and an expensive device that will keep them from feeding power back into the grid (zero export). There is no slam dunk that they will save money for those purchasing and having these devices installed.
In addition, Michael Stoddard of Efficiency Maine Trust stated he was eager to assign the millions of dollars ratepayers send to Stoddard's bureaucratic money pit to rebate the buyers of this device, as if net energy billing isn't swindle enough.
Of course, every kilowatt that this device reduces from grid-delivered kilowatts will mean a rate increase as most of the delivery system is a fixed cost business, which plays right into the Democrat's plan for Death to CMP by a thousand rate hikes.
Before anyone buys any of these devices, they should consider how they plan to use 1.2 kilowatts during the many times throughout a sunny day that there will not be enough load to consume this supply amount, because the expensive device that prevents back feed into the grid simply throttles the generation down and it is lost. Also, one should check into just how much these devices will supply in the winter, especially if they think they can balance the power from them to offset heat pump loads.
I see a lot of disappointment for those who purchase these things.
On the other hand, if one wants to get off the grid, these might be useful with batteries for those ready to scale their power requirements down to minimal standards.
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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