LePage wants more from energy omnibus bill
Gov. Paul LePage says he won't support a wide-ranging energy bill now before the Legislature's Energy Committee unless it includes new checks on wind industry development.
The Bangor Daily News reported LePage wants the bill to remove caps on how much power other renewable sources can contribute to state energy goals and to require wind power projects to prove they will lower energy costs in order to receive state approval.
The state's Renewable Portfolio Standard requires 30% of the state's energy to come from renewable sources up to a 100-megawatt cap on all sources but wind. LePage has long advocated for that limit on other renewable sources to be removed.
Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor's Energy Office, told the paper the governor also objects to part of the omnibus bill that would allow the state's Public Utilities Commission, and not the Legislature, to set the system benefit charge, which is added to all electric bills to fund energy conservation programs through the Efficiency Maine Trust.
The bill currently has bipartisan support, but it remains unclear if it would garner the two-thirds support required in both legislative chambers to override a veto threat from the governor.
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