Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, columnist and reporter for 40 years. He welcomes comment at [email protected].

Last week, I reviewed some of Maine’s policy hits and misses in attempting a transition to renewable energy without driving up electric rates to unaffordable levels. Heat pumps are working well, but all-electric vehicles have fallen well short of projections.

There should be no doubt we need to replace fossil fuels to avert a climate disaster, especially since the cost of new solar installations is below that of natural gas, and over the last two years over 90% of new U.S. generation came from renewables. President Trump’s attempts to revert to fossil fuels will fail on economic as well as policy grounds.

Yet Maine faces formidable challenges. It has the best chance to build renewables of any state in the Northeast, thanks to its wide-open landscapes away from the coast, but there are obstacles that can’t be surmounted without significant changes in the way Maine builds and finances projects.

Exhibit A is an Aroostook County 1,200-megawatt wind project that the Legislature authorized and was put out to bid by the Public Utilities Commission in 2022. The effort failed when the contractor chosen ran into serious opposition from landowners along the transmission corridor that increased costs. A new request for proposals went out in December, supposedly better coordinated with New England-wide planning, but there are reasons to be skeptical it will be any more successful.

There’s no doubt Aroostook wind would be a major new energy source, equal to the Quebec hydropower that will soon flow through western Maine to Massachusetts, helping fulfill the Bay State’s ambitious renewable goals, similar to Maine’s. But the fraught history of the New England Clean Energy Connect line  shows that even cost-effective projects are hard to pull off.

Though Maine ratepayers will actually benefit from NECEC, fervent opposition led by the Natural Resources Council of Maine resulted in its rejection by referendum in 2021, with 59% opposed. Only a Supreme Judicial Court decision finding developers that had already begun construction had “vested rights” allowed its completion, two years late and costing about 50% more than the original contract.

Although the Aroostook wind project more directly benefits Maine, it likely faces similar opposition to the necessary transmission lines. And since the Legislature has already ruled out use of eminent domain for private developers, the odds for lengthy delays and litigation will increase.

Changes in state policy and a new state agency could tip the balance back toward completion of projects making electricity more affordable and reliable. The new Department of Energy Resources is a start. It can focus on the comprehensive state energy plan that goes beyond goal-setting to specify what must be done to achieve them.

And rather than relying entirely on the private sector, Maine should create a public power authority comparable to those in other states that have produced lower rates and greater public benefits. Most state authorities were established in the early 20th century around hydroelectric dams that powered industrial growth; Maine missed that chance.

The benefits of public power are newly relevant to renewable conversion, which requires major investment and skillful navigation through the shoals of public opinion. A 2023 referendum to replace century-old Central Maine Power and Versant for electric transmission and distribution with a nonprofit Pine Tree Power Co. failed utterly, but its argument about the benefits of public ownership were sound — just misdirected.

Rather than attempting to uproot established regulated utilities, a public power authority focused on generation could be a winner. Unlike CMP and its construction arm, Avangrid, a public authority would pay no federal or state taxes, require no profits and should be far more responsive to public attitudes and needs. The savings would be substantial, but the ability to persevere for the decade or more it often takes to bring major projects on line could be even more important.

True, state government hasn’t attempted any similar agency-building in decades, but that’s all the more reason why public power is such a compelling concept now. Our major utilities were sold out of state, then out of country long ago, the result of misguided deregulation efforts.

We no longer have much control over the electric system powering new technology that promises — and threatens — to exceed the demands of 20th century industry. Public power would allow us the shape our energy future to a significant degree, and for that reason alone demands debate.

The real question is: Who among those who seek to lead Maine after 2026 will take up the challenge?