A bill aimed at reducing Maine’s dependence on foreign oil would levy a tax on your oil bill to help fund energy-efficiency initiatives.

Sen. Joe Perry, D-Bangor, the bill’s sponsor, said it’s unlikely such a tax would find enough support to become law, but he wanted to get people talking.

“People will go crazy over the notion of taxing oil,” he said. “But the fact is, when we were paying $4.50 per gallon, that money was simply leaving our economy, leaving this country and going overseas.”

Technically, Perry can’t legislate a tax because he’s a senator, and according to state law, only House members can initiate tax bills.

But Perry sees his proposal, which is scheduled for a public hearing Wednesday before the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Energy Future, as a list of suggestions to reduce Maine’s consumption of home heating oil.

“To me, the far biggest problem is that we’re the most heavily reliant state on imported oil, so that is where our focus needs to be,” he said.

The oil tax is modeled after the funding mechanism for Efficiency Maine, a program aimed at conserving electricity use, which is administered by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

“If we wanted to consider doing something with oil and fossil fuels the same way we do with Efficiency Maine, in which the ratepayers pay a little bit and it’s used to reduce demand, we have the potential of staving off the high prices of the future and actually saving Mainers money,” Perry said.

In 2007, Efficiency Maine programs helped home and business owners save 87,404 megawatt hours of energy, worth an estimated $101 million in lifetime economic benefits, according to its Web site.

“Efficiency Maine has, in terms of the return on investment, something like $3.80 for every $1 they put in,” said John Brautigam of Falmouth, a former state legislator who was recently appointed director of the PUC’s energy programs division, which oversees Efficiency Maine. “It’s been really a good thing for the environment, the the economy, for consumers and small businesses.”

Brautigam said it’s an exciting time for shaping energy policy, given the federal government’s emphasis on creating green jobs and providing stimulus funds for promoting renewable energy.

“I can’t predict what the Legislature will do, having been there,” he said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a good discussion. Efficiency Maine, as successful as it’s been, has had a fairly narrow mission.”

Reps. Mike Carey, D-Lewiston, and Nancy Smith, D-Monmouth, who serve on the Energy Future Committee, agreed with Perry that increasing Maine’s energy efficiency is key.

“But my initial reaction to a tax on heating oil is not supportive at all,” Smith said. “I know when we have looked at large-scale tax reform in the past, the two areas that really should not be taxed are essential foods and heating.”

Carey said he was glad to see Perry making suggestions, but he would wait until the public hearing before taking a position on the tax issue.

“The way that we heat our homes isn’t working,” Carey said. “We’re more susceptible to foreign oil than any other state in the country and our homes are less efficient than any other state in the country. So we need to change that and any idea that will get us there, we need to listen to and weigh seriously.”

Perry said he was optimistic about the hearing, though he was sure some of his suggestions would be criticized.

“No one is going to support all of it,” he said. “Everyone agrees we can’t take our eye off the ball, so the more we act to reduce demand, the better prepared we are when the price of oil spikes again.”

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