Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This past January, with temperatures plunging into a deep freeze, the Governor's Energy
Office got a phone call on a Friday from an elderly veteran who was facing the chilling
prospect of no heat for the weekend. He did not have the minimum amount of cash for an
oil delivery of 100 gallons, so he was preparing to make the walk to fill his five-gallon kerosene
can intermittently throughout the weekend just to stay warm and avoid the bitter cold.
Anguished pleas like this have been coming for decades into the Maine Energy Office.
The response has been to rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or (LIHEAP),
a federal program that provides direct support to purchase home heating fuel, or the generosity
of non-profits throughout the state. While these efforts mitigate the problem, they are
short-term solutions. We need a real policy to confront the underlying challenge.
In fact the sad truth is that Maine's policy has been to bundle up, hope for a mild winter
and trust that Senator Olympia Snowe and the rest of the congressional delegation could
deliver critical federal dollars through LIHEAP. This cannot continue. Despite efforts of the
congressional delegation federal funds have declined while the price of home heating oil
has more than doubled over the last decade. We must get to the heart of our energy challenge.
Beyond the personal toll that high heating prices take on households throughout the state,
they are also a barrier for job creation and economic growth. Mainers spend well over $3,000
on residential energy costs every year-this is more than twice the national average-restricting
disposable income that could be better spent in the Maine economy.
As Governor LePage announced in his State of the State address in February, his Administration's
energy policy has been simple: redirect finite state funds to where Mainers need it the most
by helping them invest in affordable energy options. The Governor seeks to expand these
options from natural gas, wood pellets, heat pumps, propane, advanced oil heating systems,
and energy efficiency. On the business side, the Administration has focused on lowering
electricity prices through regional partnerships to get competitively priced hydropower and
expand natural gas infrastructure throughout the state.
The Legislature united on some aspects of this plan. Today, finally, the first objective
of the State of Maine's energy policy is to reduce residential energy costs. While this
should have been done decades ago, it signals a sea change. We can now focus on practical
policies to help Mainers keep more money in their pockets and finally begin to start reducing
heating costs.
The Administration and Efficiency Maine Trust are now soliciting public comments and we
welcome feedback on how we can make fundamental investments to reduce heating costs. This
is the discussion that Maine should have been having for decades and will lead to help Mainers
purchase advanced technology to reduce annual heating bills. The fact is that making these
investments we can mitigate the requirement for subsidies for the purchase of home heating
fuel to simply get through a cold winter.
Regrettably, the Legislature did not stop at these common-sense reforms. Instead of
simply redirecting our state policy with the millions that Maine collects today, the Legislature
unfortunately believed that the way to address our energy challenge was to further increase
fees on energy. Energy taxes are regressive, and disproportionately affect those on fixed
incomes such as our elderly and low-income populations. This is the wrong direction to
grow the Maine economy and only adds to the burden facing household budgets.
As we move past the legislative session, there are two objectives of the LePage Administration
as we move to implement the new energy law: 1) Reduce electricity rates to attract job-creating
business capital; and 2) Assist Mainers in lowering their home heating costs. We must
prepare now for the inevitable cold spell this winter and help Mainers to make investments
that will reduce their annual pleas for heating subsidies and keep more money in the Maine
economy.
From now until this winter, this Administration will continue efforts to initiate a program
that helps Mainers finally take control of their fuel costs and invest in modern heating
equipment we welcome your feedback. Our energy challenges will not be solved easily, but
by establishing a basic mission to reduce heating costs in the State of Maine, we are
finally on the right track.