The Maine Public Utilities Commission, Interconnection, and Community-Driven Advocacy
This blog post covers content recently explored in the Energy Democracy Series hosted by Maine Climate Action Now!. In the first part of that series, ACTT’s Manager of Renewable Energy Planning and Policy Beth Woolfolk, presented alongside ACTT Board Member, Efficiency Maine Trust Board Member and former Principal and Director of U.S. Programs for the Regulatory Assistance Project Ken Colburn, on the important role the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) has to play in a community-driven transition to renewable energy. Within her presentation, Beth shared this very important graph:
What does this graph mean and why is the Maine Public Utilities Commission so important? Read on to learn more!
Over the past several years, ACTT has supported the towns, nonprofits, small businesses, and individual homeowners on MDI, as well as communities statewide, in planning and implementing a wide variety of energy projects, including solar arrays of various sizes and initial planning for microgrid resilience hubs. During this work, a barrier began to repeatedly arise. Projects that were sited on pre-disturbed land and rooftops, fully supported by the community, and had secure funding still were not moving forward because of Versant Power’s interconnection practices.
For context, it’s important to remember that the investor-owned utility model is built around spending money because the investors are guaranteed a return on the money they’ve invested. Anything that prevents investing money on new infrastructure threatens this investor-driven business model. Distributed energy projects, like solar, reduce the need for large-scale (and expensive) transmission lines, which is good for ratepayers, but bad for the investor-owned utility model.
Additionally, the utilities in Maine cannot own energy generation, including small-scale distributed clean energy generation (such as rooftop and community-owned solar), and do not profit from the benefits these projects bring to all ratepayers (see our blog post Myth Busting the Utility Narrative on Solar and Net Energy Billing).
Due to these two points combined, many investor-owned utilities will delay and deny as many distributed renewable energy projects from interconnecting as possible. Versant has historically done this through poor communication, prolonged timelines, unpredictable costs associated with studies, and grid upgrades that often appear to be inconsistent and arbitrary.
Despite having laws, like net energy billing, that support the adoption of solar, until recently, Maine’s rules regulating solar interconnection had not been updated since 2009. Versant Power used this lack of regulation to prevent projects across their territory from being interconnected. This is why the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) is so important. The MPUC is the state regulatory body that oversees utility practices, ideally to ensure they align with the public interest. The MPUC plays a vital role in translating state laws passed by the legislature into practical regulations and guidelines that govern utility services within Maine. Strong advocacy at the State legislature and MPUC led to new interconnection rules that have widespread implications for the clean energy transition in Maine.
Distributed solar in Versant Power territory more than doubled in the last half of 2024 and that is not an accident or coincidence. This is what is demonstrated in the timeline below, which clearly depicts the vital intersection of legislation, regulatory practices, and community activism within the energy transition.
Timeline Narrative
June 2016 - The Maine State Legislature establishes Net Energy Billing
This legislation allowed solar arrays to serve up to ten accounts. The program was primarily utilized by homeowners, small businesses, and small municipalities for individual rooftop arrays.
At this point, there was clear and transparent communication from the utilities and good faith negotiations. There was so little solar on the grid that the utilities were not threatened by it.
June 2019 - The Maine State Legislature expands Net Energy Billing
The expansion of NEB allowed solar arrays up to 5 MW to serve an unlimited number of accounts within the same utility territory.
It is at this point that community-owned solar projects begin to be explored, and larger-scale solar developers start entering Maine, leasing land, and applying for interconnection. The utilities’ approach immediately shifted in response to the wave of new applications, and interconnection approval ground to a halt. Interconnection rules had not been updated since 2009, and the utilities essentially had nothing compelling them to cooperate and interconnect.
June 2021 - The Maine State Legislature directs the MPUC to evaluate and reform interconnection practices
This legislation began a critical process at the MPUC that would allow for the critical changes necessary to hold the utilities accountable. This bill directed the MPUC to contract with an expert to evaluate near-term reforms to standards and practices related to interconnecting renewable energy and adopt interconnection rules that reflect nationally recognized best practices. The Legislature also directed the Commission to ensure a transparent screening process for these projects and to provide an efficient and effective dispute-resolution process.
March 2022 - The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) delivers a report outlining Interconnection issues and recommendations.
This 83-page report was the result of nearly a year-long investigation into Central Maine Power’s and Versant Power’s interconnection practices. The report identified fifteen key issues in the utilities’ interconnection practices and current MPUC interconnection rules. These issues included excessive screen failure without safety and reliability benefits, delayed upgrades, and a lack of transparency regarding distribution upgrade costs, leading to uncertainty and mistrust.
December 2022 - The MPUC opens a new docket and posts draft rules based on IREC recommendations.
The docket opened up a comment period at the MPUC where the commissioners could finally hear from stakeholders other than the utility about the impacts these critical changes would have on community-driven projects. ACTT coordinated a campaign to support individuals and other community-based organizations to submit testimony that highlighted Versant’s practices.
This is critical because the utilities typically have a high degree of regulatory capture. Regulatory capture is a situation where a regulatory agency is unduly influenced by the industry it is supposed to regulate, leading to decisions that favor industry interests over the public good. The industry often possesses more detailed technical knowledge than regulators, which can lead to a reliance on industry-provided data and analysis. This dependence can result in regulations that align more closely with industry interests.
After receiving far more public testimony than is typical for rulemaking proceedings, the MPUC held technical conferences and a public hearing for the rule change. ACTT followed these closely and advocated for the changes that we needed to see.
June 2023 - Maine State Legislature directs the MPUC to develop an Interconnection Ombudsman fund
This legislation mandated the MPUC to hire a full-time expert who would help customers experiencing interconnection issues.
November 2023 - The MPUC adopts new interconnection rules
These rules had new timelines and requirements for interconnection. It also required a higher degree of transparency and accountability by requiring the utilities to submit quarterly reports outlining their performance in adhering to the timelines set forth. The rules also created a dispute resolution process so solar customers could engage in negotiation without needing to open an entire docket at the MPUC. You can see a spike in interconnected solar right after that is passed.
November 2024 - The MPUC establishes a fund for an interconnection Ombudsman
As soon as the fund is established, there is another big spike in interconnection.
A majority of the projects interconnected in 2023 and 2024 applied for interconnection in 2019 and 2020 after the legislature passed the NEB expansion, and it wasn't until the MPUC adopted rules that required a far higher degree of transparency and accountability that these arrays were finally interconnected.
Unfortunately, Versant Power was able to delay community-driven projects to the point that many of them dropped out of the queue. Over half of the queued kWs dropped out since 2022. This is because projects without large investors backing them were unable to shoulder the predevelopment costs and risks associated with the prolonged timelines and unpredictable costs.
Pathways for advocacy
Community-driven action was an essential part of the interconnection rule changes made at the MPUC. We’ve listed a few strategies to use if you want to get involved:
Give Testimony: Giving testimony is one of the few opportunities where elected officials hear from constituents on targeted issues. You get to tell your experience in a way that is constructive to the political process. Can be given in person or written testimony can be submitted online.
Write Op-Eds: Writing op-eds is important if you have a story to share. You have an opportunity to shift the utility narrative and be very specific about how a certain measure impacts YOUR community.
Monitor proceedings and stay informed. Sign up to ACTT’s public policy email list at the bottom of the page and get notified about key legislation, MPUC dockets, and calls for testimony.