BOSTON - Today 21 member companies of the Northeast Clean Energy Council met with representatives from Maine Governor Janet Mills’ Administration, Maine legislators, and energy officials for the Council’s virtual Maine Clean Energy Day, an event bringing together clean energy business leaders and policymakers to discuss the most pressing energy and climate policy issues facing Maine.

This annual event began with a legislative briefing from E2Tech, Maine's leading energy, environmental, and clean technology business and economic development organization and a key partner of the Northeast Clean Energy Council, followed by a day of meetings between policymakers and business leaders from the solar, energy storage, wind, EV, smart grid and other clean energy sectors.

“This year and the decade before us will be critical for accelerating the clean energy transition and reaching our climate goals in the Northeast,” said Northeast Clean Energy Council President Peter Rothstein. “We remain committed to working with the Legislature and the Mills Administration to deliver on the vision of a cleaner, more competitive, more equitable, and more resilient energy future for Maine.”

As part of the event, the Council also released its 2021 Maine Clean Energy Policy Priorities, which demonstrate the Council’s dedication to growing the clean energy economy in Maine and across the Northeast. Guided by Maine’s Four-Year Climate Action Plan, the Council will focus on policies that will ensure a green recovery for Maine in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis, including:

• Proactively facilitating distributed energy interconnection to ensure that new clean energy resources can be easily connected to the grid.
  
  
• Strengthening clean energy markets through procurement of both large-scale and distributed clean energy resources.
  
  
• Establishing an energy storage roadmap for Maine by codifying an energy storage target into statute and developing programs to help the state reach that target.
  
  
• Supporting the advancement of clean transportation by joining the regional Transportation Climate Initiative.
  
  
• Developing sustainable and predictable project siting guidance for solar projects to open opportunities for a broad range of solar applications such as rooftop solar and solar canopies.
  
  
• Exploring opportunities for offshore and onshore wind to capitalize on Maine’s abundant coastline and large-scale procurement opportunities in Northern Maine.
  
  
• Continuing investments in energy efficiency as the most cost-effective clean energy solution for Maine and a path to create thousands of good local jobs.

The Council’s full 2021 Maine Clean Energy Policy Priorities are available here.

About The Northeast Clean Energy Council

The Northeast Clean Energy Council is the premier voice of businesses building a world-class clean energy hub in the Northeast, helping clean energy companies start, scale, and succeed with our unique business, innovation, and policy leadership. The organization includes the Northeast Clean Energy Council, a nonprofit business member organization, and NECEC Institute, a nonprofit focused on industry research, innovation, policy development, and strategic communications. The organization’s innovation program includes Cleantech Open Northeast, the Northeast affiliate of the national cleantech accelerator Cleantech Open, and Cleantech Navigate, which provides cleantech startups with curated connections to mentors, test sites, customers, corporate partners, and investors. The Northeast Clean Energy Council brings together business leaders and key stakeholders to engage in influential policy discussions and business initiatives while building connections that propel the clean energy industry forward.

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