MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • March 14, 2021
The most important strategy in Maine’s Climate Action Plan to achieve a carbon-free economy is the conversion of our transportation, heating and process sectors to electricity and the simultaneous development of renewable generation to meet all our energy requirements. Roughly 80 percent of the $5 billion Maine businesses and residents spend annually for energy is for fuel. For Maine to eliminate all fossil fuels by 2050, we will need to make capital investments over the next 30 years of roughly $45 billion in new wind, solar and battery storage projects plus an additional $10 billion to expand the electric transmission and distribution grid. I propose the creation of the Maine Generation Authority to finance the development of the hundreds of new generation projects we will need to decarbonize our energy sector and our economy. ~ Richard Silkman, Scarborough, Competitive Energy Systems