By Sen. Stacey Guerin
Six thousand dollars a month. That is the amount a business in my district is going to have to pay per month just for the privilege to use electricity for their business. No matter how much power they use, a new $6,000 solar subsidy charge appeared for the first time this month on the Milo company’s electric bill from Versant.
And now, the company says it might have to close, all because Democrats and their progressive special interest groups are unwilling to alter a program that clearly enriches out-of-state solar developers and sends millions to Wall Street investment firms. This unjust enrichment is on the backs of Maine ratepayers.
Hello, this is Senator Stacey Guerin of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties. I thank you for joining me for this week’s Republican Radio Address.
In what the business community and even Bill Harwood, Maine’s Public Advocate, has called a job-killing solar tax, residential ratepayers and now many of Maine’s businesses are paying higher amounts of what is called the stranded cost, or “Public Policy,” portion of your electric bill. Simply put, this is the part of the bill where you are paying for the solar panels that are now littering Maine’s farm fields. You may have heard it called Net Energy Billing or Net Metering.
In June, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved another round of these charges for Maine businesses and consumers. Nearly $130 million in solar subsidies paid to these solar developers have to be recovered; and we are on the hook for it.
Legislative Republicans and Maine’s Public Advocate have been warning the public about this for years as costs of the solar development program spiraled out of control. It was designed poorly and grew too much, too fast. Yet most Democrats in Augusta have refused to listen; and we just learned recently that Maine’s businesses are now bearing the brunt of it.
Maine already has the sixth-highest electricity rate in the nation, according to an analysis by Dow Jones’ financial subsidiary MarketWatch. Considering that we already have the highest property tax burden in the nation and the fourth-highest tax burden when adding together all taxes we pay, this is not how life should be and a new tax only makes it worse.
It’s no wonder our businesses are now feeling pinched to the point of closure. Maine’s public policies and mandates are responsible for their demise.
In the case of Milo Chip, which produces sanitary paper products and employs four people, the additional $6,000 per month will double the company’s monthly electricity cost. According to other companies at a higher rate tier that have reached out to our office, they will have to start paying over $9,600 per month. Just do the math and that is over $116,000 in additional costs per year.
I’m afraid Milo Chip is only the tip of the iceberg and I’m glad they filed a complaint with the Maine PUC. However, I don’t hold out much hope – that agency has not handled the solar subsidy problem well at all.
This is not the only problem facing our businesses and residents either. Another business in my district is struggling with health and property insurance rates, both of which have skyrocketed for consumers and businesses alike. Then we have those businesses that are competing with others subsidized by the Chinese and Canadian governments, tipping the scale unfavorably in their favor.
And when it comes to our rising property taxes, well… that’s a whole other topic. More to come on that.
To conclude, this new solar tax is jeopardizing Maine residents and now our businesses and their employees. I can see why they call it a job-killing solar tax. Milo Chip and many other companies are now paying millions for the solar projects of others, even though they have nothing to do with it. And the state is forcing them to do it.
As it stands now, the Public Advocate told lawmakers last year that we will have to cover about $220 million in solar subsidy costs per year for the next 20 years. That’s $4.4 billion in total. It will certainly make many out-of-state solar developers and their Wall Street bankers quite rich.
But maybe that’s what Democrat lawmakershave wanted all along and why they’re protecting them now. Really makes you think, doesn’t it?
Again, I am Senator Stacey Guerin of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties. Thank you for listening.
Sen. Stacey Guerin represents District 4, which includes all of Piscataquis County and 11 communities in Penobscot County. She is the Senate Republican Lead for the Legislature’s Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee.
