AUGUSTA, Maine — Renewable energy projects come at a cost. That’s why programs like net energy billing aim to help offset some of the financial burden, offering rewards for completing those projects. 

However, the current formula for distributing these incentives has resulted in what some are calling overgenerous subsidiaries given to commercial solar companies. 

Maine lawmakers are now looking to reform the program. 

This week, a bipartisan bill to rein in the net energy billing formula received majority support by the state’s Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee. LD 1777 calls for a tier system of net energy billing, where smaller community-based projects get more financial support than bigger ones. 

Backers of the legislation see it as a modest reform that helps smaller community solar projects while maintaining the integrity of the program. 

Commercial solar advocates and lobbyists, on the other hand, argue the bill will harm renewable energy companies in the state. 

The Coalition for Community Solar Access bills itself as a national trade association that represents dozens of community solar companies, businesses, and nonprofits “working to expand customer choice and access to solar for all American households and businesses through community solar,” according to its website. 

CCSA penned a letter this week urging Maine lawmakers to oppose the bill, calling it a “backwards-looking rollback of the state’s clean energy leadership that threatens to dismantle a successful market and set a dangerous precedent for the region.” 

Kate Daniel, Northeast Regional Director for the CCSA, spoke with NEWS CENTER Maine about concerns the organization has about the bill going forward. 

“To have that rug pulled out from them at this stage is likely to cause some very concerning impacts, and that is ultimately at the heart of our concerns,” Daniel said. 

Rep. Sophia Warren, D-Scarborough, serves on the state’s Environment, Utilities, and Technology Committee and described some of the considerations lawmakers have been exploring in the committee.  

“I think we found a measured approach that makes additional protections for those smaller projects, those smaller small businesses in that they provide so many other benefits to our communities across our state,” Warren told NEWS CENTER Maine. 

The net energy billing changes this bill calls for would not apply to personal solar projects. The full legislature will now consider this proposal.