PORTLAND, Maine - Backers of solar power fired a preemptive shot today in the latest battle over so-called "net metering." That's the practice of having utilities pay retail prices for excess power purchased from solar panel owners.
Andrew LaVogue of Environment Maine said there's a "network of fossil fuel and utility-backed organizations" that are campaigning against the spread of solar power.
"Pollution-free solar energy represents one of Maine's most abundant energy sources, for our climate and our economy," LaVogue said Thursday at a Portland news conference. "We can't allow special interests forces in the fossil fuel industry to pull the plug on the bright potential of solar power."
LaVogue and other speakers at the event said they expect Gov. Paul LePage's public utilities commissioners to issue a ruling against net metering any day now.
Glen Brand, of the Sierra Club's Maine chapter, says the group is ready to go back to the Legislature to defend the right to generate their own power and be compensated for the power they feed into the electric grid.
