SAVE THE SOLAR BILL: Urge an Override of LePage’s Veto

Aug 3, 2017

Environmental Issues Working Group and Natural Resources Council of Maine C2A

THE BASICS
The Maine Legislature will vote Thursday, July 20, to override Gov. LePage’s veto of the popular and bipartisan solar bill LD 1504. Thank legislators who voted in support of the bill and ask them to hold strong, and urge those who voted against LD 1504 to support it now.

THE ISSUE
Gov. Paul Lepage recently vetoed LD 1504, a solar bill that passed the House and Senate with wide bipartisan support. The legislation would reverse the Maine Public Utilities Commission’s anti-solar requirement that additional meters be installed for solar customers and that Mainers who generate their own solar power be charged. The regressive regulation has been compared to allowing Hannaford to charge people for growing their own tomatoes. The solar bill would also raise the cap on the number of people who can participate on a single community farm from 10 to 100. If the veto is allowed to stand, Maine’s growing solar industry would take an unnecessary hit at a time when it has been successfully adding clean energy jobs to Maine’s economy. LePage’s veto doesn’t only hurt the solar industry. Every Mainer who pays an electricity bill, regardless of whether they use solar, will see an increase in rates under these unchecked and misguided regulations.THE ACTION
Did your legislators support the solar bill? Check the House and Senate roll calls.

THE ACTION

  • Did your legislators support the solar bill? Check the House and Senate roll calls.
  • If your legislators voted for the bill, thank them and ask them to continue their support by overriding the governor’s veto. If your legislators voted against the bill, ask them to support it now. Find your legislators here.
  • Use the NRCM’s email form to thank legislators who voted to pass LD 1504 and urge them to overturn LePage’s veto.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

[Begin either by expressing thanks for voting to support solar energy in Maine or by urging them to change their vote] I am calling to urge you to vote to overturn Gov. Lepage’s veto on LD 1504. Allowing this bill to stand would increase electricity costs for all who pay an electric bill in Maine and would be a serious detriment to the solar industry by limiting the number of people who can participate on a single community farm. Overturning this veto will also set Maine up to require an analysis of the best way to capture the value of solar for all consumers. It will be next to impossible to make good policy decisions on this matter without this information.