Energy bill survives veto
Courtesy Cianbro
The VolturnUS offshore wind turbine was the focus for Gov. Paul LePage's veto of a wide-ranging energy bill.
An omnibus energy bill that creates new state authority to encourage the expansion of natural gas infrastructure and outlines state energy efficiency spending will be signed into law after senators voted unanimously to override a veto from Gov. Paul LePage.
But the Sun Journal reported LePage changed his stance on the bill before Wednesday’s vote, after lawmakers made multiple amendments to a separate bill, giving support to a University of Maine offshore wind power project as the governor requested in his veto of the omnibus energy plan.
The amended LD 1472 calls for the Maine Public Utilities Commission to reopen bidding for offshore energy pilot projects, a status the PUC approved for another project led by the Norwegian energy company, Statoil. LePage argued that doing so would put the university effort on equal footing with Statoil.
The omnibus bill also would redirect around $6.6 million, or one-third, of the funds Maine gets from a regional cap-and-trade program to provide rebates to homeowners switching off oil heat systems. That program will be administered through the Efficiency Maine Trust.
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