The REC law and how it is Screwing Maine People

As stated in Maine Law, 

§3210. Renewable resources

1-A.  State goals for consumption of electricity from renewable resources.  The State's goals for increasing consumption of electricity in the State that comes from renewable resources are as follows:  
A. By January 1, 2030, 80% of retail sales electricity in the State will come from renewable resources; and   [PL 2019, c. 477, §1 (NEW).]
B. By January 1, 2050, 100% of retail sales electricity in the State will come from renewable resources.  
As defined by the Maine PUC,  
"Most of the compliance with Maine’s portfolio requirements occurs through the purchase of RECs."
The fact is the consumption of electricity in Maine and the retail sales electricity in the State are not the same thing.
As the PUC states above, "most of the compliance" (meaning electricity purchased to supply Maine customers by the standard offer providers and competitive electricity providers) "occurs through the purchase of RECs"
RECs are sold by a totally different market than basic electricity sales, which occur through wholesale electricity purchases in the ISO-NE market.
The REC connection to the Maine's portfolio standard means the actual physical electric energy arriving to customers can be very different. Standard Offer Providers have an array of resources in the wholesale market for purchases Oil, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Renewables, Hydro and Others.
This chart depicts the resources purchased by the Standard Offer Provider for the 3rd quarter in 2023
In 2023, the Maine Renewable Portfolio Standard mandated 52% compliance. Physically, the power sources bought wholesale and sold retail by the Standard Offer Providers were 74% Nuclear, Gas, Oil and Coal, none of which are defined as renewables by Maine law. 
The PUC states:  "During 2022, the total cost of compliance was $88,051,069 or 0.706 cents per kWh." (Mostly through the purchase of RECs)

This, of course, means in 2050 when 100% compliance is required and, if the REC market is still the method of compliance, the incentives to build out renewables will no longer be necessary, therefore the REC program should be retired, because all the purposes of the law will be satisfied. 
And, as an aside, the PUC states in the above-mentioned: 

Based on data from NEPOOL-GIS Regulator Reports, 64% of the NEW (since 1/1/2019) solar generation physically located in Maine that registered with NEPOOL GIS only registered their RECs for sale outside the State of Maine.

Maine, no doubt, has beyond 100% physical presence of renewable resource generation, proving, once again, the Maine State Government is screwing Maine ratepayers.

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

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(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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