Dive Brief:
- Efficiency Maine Trust will have an annual budget of $42 million, following the Public Utilities Commission's vote to approve the program just two weeks before the next fiscal year begins. The three-year program is expected to return more than $600 million in energy savings, according to Maine Public Broadcasting.
- While Efficiency Maine Trust Executive Director Michael Stoddard said the decision allows for a "smooth transition," other advocates said they would have liked regulators to approve a larger budget.
- Last year, regulators capped spending at $22 million rather than $60 million due to a clerical error, before the funding was restored.
Dive Insight:
Maine efficiency advocates say the state could have approved a much larger budget, which would have resulted in greater savings. Maine Public Broadcasting reports there was "some wrangling over the budget numbers, and ultimate agreement among most stakeholders."
The Conservation Law Foundation is weighing its options and considering a lawsuit to force a larger budget. And the Natural Resources Council of Maine signed on "grudgingly," according to the broadcast network. But Public Advocate Tim Schneider said the plan is good for consumers.
“It’s not true that just spending more money on efficiency is an unqualified good. The process the commission just went through was about making sure that the money we spend on energy efficiency actually results in benefits, that it’s cost-beneficial,” Schneider said. “We are very confident that the commission just approved is going to result in programs that save more than they cost.”
Last year's debate over efficiency funding was particularly controversial, after the PUC cut $38 million in funding. In that debate, Gov. Paul LePage (R) sought to expand his cabinet to include an energy office and obtain the power to appoint the executive director of the Efficiency Maine Trust,
A 2013 omnibus energy bill was missing the word "and," which led utility regulators to cap efficiency spending at $22 million, instead of the $60 million lawmakers say they intended. Lawmakers overrode LePage's veto of a bill they passed to correct the mistake.