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Bob Cleaves, co-founder of Dirigo Solar
Updated: June 2, 2025
Op-Ed
Op-Ed: A budget proposal passed in the House threatens to undermine low-cost power for Mainers
By Bob Cleaves, Dirigo Solar
As a co-founder of Dirigo Solar, a solar energy development company, I know what it takes to operate a business effectively and to deliver results.
Our company was founded on the belief that solar can be delivered at a price that is cheaper than any other technology in the market, and we have delivered on that promise.
Dirigo Solar was founded 10 years ago after receiving a contract award from the Maine PUC during the administration of Gov. Paul LePage to build enough solar power to power approximately 20,000 homes across the state. That contract, which is the lowest price of any solar project sold to ratepayers anywhere in New England, has resulted in millions in savings for Mainers.
Since then, we have invested over $150 million across more than 25 projects. We have maximized the use of industrial and contaminated lands, such as the former Loring Air Force Base, a former paper mill landfill in Westbrook and a hazardous waste site in Standish.
We have also worked with the Maine Legislature to bring low cost solar to agricultural land ravaged by PFAS contamination. As a result of these efforts, Maine was the first state in the Nation to incentivize solar on PFAS land which has the potential of helping Maine’s farming community.
But the current budget proposal recently passed in the house threatens to undermine the future of low-cost power for Mainers. The budget, as written, will phase out numerous tax credits in 2032 and eliminate transferability which allows companies to trade these credits immediately. It will restrict eligibility of access to tax credits to projects breaking ground within 60 days of passage, and eliminate consumer credits for home energy upgrades and solar by 2025.
Just eight of the projects constructed by Dirigo have created 660 construction jobs. These are jobs that are located in rural communities where they are needed most. Beyond our work, there are an estimated 13,450 clean energy jobs in Maine with most of those jobs — 9,000 — being in the energy efficiency upgrade sector.
Eliminating the tax credits would jeopardize these jobs and could destabilize the communities where they are located, which in Maine are mostly rural communities where underinvestment is already chronic.
Another consequence of the current budget proposal is the cost of energy for consumers. According to one study the repeal of the clean energy tax credits is an average increase of 7% for consumers. That’s an additional $110 that consumers will have to spend to help cover the more expensive types of energy. Dirigo Solar is able to provide scalable, affordable solar energy to Mainers far under the cost of traditional energy sources. This bill threatens our ability to deliver these results to Mainers.
The House bill — H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act" — not only turns its back on the future of low-cost power for Maine but does so retroactively. Like any infrastructure investment in Maine, solar requires stable, predictable long-term policy.
Solar projects take years of permitting, grid planning and major investments in studies and grid deposits. Any changes made in federal policy, however misguided, cannot impact the viability of existing projects already in the pipeline.
Pulling the rug out from under businesses like mine will damage the economy, cost jobs and raise energy rates on consumers. Maine has been a leader in investing in clean energy and has benefitted enormously from lower rates and more jobs. This bill threatens those gains.
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