Courtesy / Jeremy Payne
Jeremy Payne will become a principal at the Cornerstone Government Affairs Group in Augusta
September 19, 2022
Maine Renewable Energy Association director departing after 14 years
By Bridget Reed Morawski
The executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association is leaving the trade group after over 14 years. The organization represents and champions the policy goals of the state’s solar, wind, hydro, biomass, energy storage and tidal power producers, as well as companies that support the renewable power sector.
Starting the week of Oct. 3, Jeremy Payne will begin working with the Cornerstone Government Affairs Group, where he will be one of three principals of the firm’s Augusta office. He’ll focus on Maine-based advocacy “in the state house, outside of the state house and in the legislative, political and regulatory arenas representing clients of all shapes and sizes and industries.”
Payne will join a team that recently added Matt Marks, the former CEO of Associated General Contractors of Maine, to its roster. Marks left that association in June after nearly 14 years as part of its c-suite team.
While energy, environment and economic development will continue to be Payne’s bread and butter, he said his team will work on issues for clients “that will be newer to us.”
Cornerstone Government Affairs bills itself as a bipartisan, employee-owned firm focused on government relations, lobbying, public affairs, strategic communication and advisory services. The firm has 14 offices across the country, including Augusta — where MREA is also located — and Washington, D.C.
Payne recalls being essentially an energy novice when he first joined the Maine Renewable Energy Association.
“I had a very basic understanding of our electric grid,” he said in a Sept. 19 interview. “Candidly, I'd be lying if I said, my understanding was much greater than ‘when I turn the light switch on, the power seems to come on.’”
In the 14 years since he joined the organization, both his own comprehension of the issues and the Maine energy policy conversation have shifted significantly, he said.
“I think when I first started, the conversation was frequently around price, ‘hey, we'd like to do more renewable energy, but we're concerned it’s going to cost more,’” Payne said. “But I think the thing that's changed —particularly in the last five or six years especially — is that it's no longer a question of whether it's cheap or clean, now we can have both.”
Maine Renewable Energy Association has already begun the hunt for a new executive director, posting a job description on its website. Although his work with Cornerstone will begin in early October, Payne intends to stay on in an interim capacity at MREA until a suitable replacement is brought on.
Whomever the next full-time MREA executive director will be, Payne thinks that one hurdle they will face is the tendency to say ‘no’ to new projects. While he doesn’t think every project is the right fit for its proposed location, he thinks that Maine “needs to get comfortable with saying yes, more than maybe we have in the past.”
“These are billion-dollar industries — from solar to land-based wind to offshore wind — that are knocking on Maine’s door,” Payne said. “If we get to a point where we have enough billion-dollar industries that we can be very picky about who we open that door to and who we don't, that's a great place to be. But we're not there yet.”
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