AUGUSTA — A new state energy plan lays out a roadmap for finding ways to make energy more affordable, reliable and clean for decades to come.
The Governor’s Energy Office released the plan earlier this month as part of a push to get to 100% clean electricity by 2040, continue to reduce the number of Maine homes that use heating oil and make the electric grid more resilient in the face of powerful storms.
One major goal — getting 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind installed by 2040 — is now more uncertain, given an executive order signed by President Donald Trump this week that temporarily halts offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pauses other approvals.
In a statement, the state energy office said that the executive orders will not impact existing offshore wind leases, such as the research array planned for the Gulf of Maine.
“Offshore wind remains important to addressing Maine’s energy challenges, and the state remains committed to advancing responsible offshore wind, particularly through the research array,” according to the statement.
Dan Burgess, director of the energy office, said in an interview that while the new plan lays out goals for decades to come it also recognizes Maine’s longstanding commitment to renewable energy, which began in 1997.
“We’ve had oil reduction targets in statute since 2011 and there’s been much discussion about that in prior decades as well,” he said. “Maine has been marching on a path of greater energy independence and really focusing on opportunities for Maine to increase the amount of homegrown clean energy that exists here.”
That’s important because nearly 50% of Maine homes rely on home heating oil or kerosene to run their heating systems, compared to just 4% nationally, Burgess said.
“We are a national outlier when it comes to our reliance on home heating oil,” he said.
In addition to switching away from dirty fossil fuels, transitioning from oil will make Mainers less vulnerable to price spikes. Maine spends more than $4.5 billion on imported fossil fuels each year, according to the report.
One way to address that is through the widespread adoption of heat pumps, which run on electricity. Nearly 144,000 heat pumps have been installed since 2019 and other state programs have helped to weatherize more than 14,500 homes, the report states.
The plan calls for better data to help consumers reduce their electricity use during peak times, both to save money and ease demand on the grid.
It also emphasizes the need to continue to expand the availability of electric vehicle charging stations. About 8% of vehicle registration in Maine in 2024 were either fully electric or plug-in hybrids.
As an overall goal, Maine will need a mix of energy sources, including hydroelectricity, wind, biomass, solar and energy storage to replace its reliance on natural gas as a source for electricity, according to the report.
The plan also highlights the potential economic impacts of a diversifying energy sector, pointing out that more than 15,000 people already work in clean energy.
“As we’re investing in things like energy efficiency and building new generation projects there’s a really significant economic development opportunity and job creation opportunity,” Burgess said.