PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 27, 2025
By 2017, the price of solar panels had fallen so we dusted off our dream of generating clean electricity. With the federal tax credit and the net energy billing promise of getting credit on our electric bill for every surplus kilowatt-hour we produced, it became a smart investment. Since then we’ve seen the cost of electricity skyrocket. Getting rid of net energy billing would do nothing to address the soaring supply costs that bind us to a volatile fossil fuel market. A big factor in recent bill increases is the storm damage recovery costs that CMP and Versant are passing on to ratepayers. Another big driver of Maine’s unaffordable electricity bills is the relentless extraction of heavy profits by CMP and Versant. Everyone benefits if homeowners and locally owned small-scale cooperatives invest in renewable energy. Getting rid of net energy billing entirely would be a big mistake and cost us more in the long term. ~ Ed Geis, Camden