Career Exploration program to connect 6,000 young people with paid opportunities at Maine employers to strengthen Maine’s workforce October 28, 2022 The Maine Career Exploration program is a new $25 million, two-year initiative of her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to connect 6,000 young people in Maine to future career opportunities by funding paid work experiences with employers across the […]
October 23, 2022 Augusta, MAINE – Maine small businesses and nonprofit organizations will soon receive a one-time electric utility account credit of more than $2,000 to provide relief from increased energy costs. This relief is the product of legislation sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Aroostook, and signed into law by Governor Mills. The program, created by LD 2010, Resolve, to Help Certain Businesses with Electricity Costs offers tiered relief based on electricity usage, and aims to assist small businesses and nonprofits in Maine facing increased costs due to volatile global energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Funding for the credit is provided through the Governor’s Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, through funds allocated by the Legislature for small business relief. […]
Augusta, MAINE – With Federal forecasts expecting energy prices to remain high this winter, the Governor’s Energy Office has updated its winter heating resource guide to help Maine people and families take action to save money, improve their home’s energy efficiency, and find heating assistance if needed. The guide is now available on the Governor’s Energy Office website and as […]
October21, 2022 Bucksport, MAINE —During a visit to Bucksport in October, Governor Janet Mills visited two local seafood processing businesses who received grants awarded through her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to upgrade their infrastructure. “Maine’s seafood industry – from our fishermen and aquaculturists to our processors and our dealers – is a cornerstone of our economy, employing thousands of people up and down […]
Madison , Maine Solar Farm November 3, 2022, Portland, ME: The new $400 million investment in a Houlton-area manufacturing plant by LP Building Solutions adds to the mounting evidence that consumer-owned electric utilities are very good for business development in Maine. When asked to comment on this new investment, Wayne Jortner, lead petitioner on the Our Power citizen initiative and […]
October 27, 2022 Hallowell, Maine – The Maine Public Utilities Commission selected two projects to promote renewable energy development in northern Maine, as required by law. The first is for the development of a 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line to connect renewable energy resources located in northern Maine with the New England grid and the second is a renewable energy generation project […]
August 18, 2022 On August 16, Avangrid, Central Maine Power’s (CMP) parent company, announced CMP’s quarterly financial report. CMP is the major electricity company in the state of Maine. According to Avangrid, CMP made $40,459,000 in profits over the past three months (April, May, June 2022), up 23 percent from the same period in 2021. In response, Our Power Executive Director Andrew Blunt issued the following statement: “Our utilities are making money hand over fist while Maine people are struggling to make ends meet. Everyday, CMP is sending $444,604 to make Avangrid shareholders and executives richer and richer. In the midst of the inflation crisis we’re in, it’s unconscionable.” “Customers of Maine’s nine customer-owned utilities are paying literally half as […]
August 12, 2022 By Ramona du Houx Our Power Executive Director Andrew Blunt and Senior Advisor Former State Rep. Seth Berry, longtime House Chair of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, issued the following statement in response to the announcement that the Energy Office of Governor Janet Mills will intervene at the Public Utilities Commission to oppose the latest request for a three-year rate increase by Central Maine Power. “Our Power applauds this effort by Governor Mills,” said Blunt. “But let’s be honest: the profits made by private utilities on investments like this are protected by US Supreme Court case law. State law and regulation is powerless here. Either we invest in improving our grid […]
White House Office of Management and Budget released a snapshot of over $29 billion in new funding opportunity notifications and announcements that the Biden-Harris Administration has already rolled out to deliver on the Justice40 Initiative— MAY 23, 2022• STATEMENTS AND RELEASES from the White House White House announces that over $29 billion in funding opportunities have already incorporated Justice40 considerations […]
May 10, 2022 AUGUSTA – A bill to clarify new rule-making parameters for the Office of Marijuana Policy, sponsored by Rep. Lynne Williams, D-Bar Harbor, is now law. LD 1928 will implement changes to make the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act clearer and more specific, reducing the need for interpretation in rulemaking and protecting against administrative overreach. This includes added protections for Maine’s medical marijuana patients, their caregivers and small, locally-owned businesses. “This legislation will ensure that everyone involved with Maine’s medical marijuana industry can continue to flourish,” said Rep. Williams. “It will protect patients’ rights, provide new safeguards for local caregivers and support our small businesses and the communities in which they operate. I am grateful to all of […]
May 10, 2022 AUGUSTA – Gov. Janet Mills recently signed into law a bill sponsored by Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennebunkport, that will expand the current sales tax exemption for nonprofit housing developers. According to the Maine State Housing Authority’s 2021 Homeownership Housing Facts and Affordability Index, 15 of Maine’s 16 counties were classified as “unaffordable,” meaning a household earning area median income could […]
New Plant in Texas will Create 3,000 New Good-Paying Jobs; Biden to Call on Congress to Pass Bipartisan Innovation Act to Supercharge New Investments in Innovation May 20,2022 , President Biden and the President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Yoon Suk Yeol toured the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus – a model for the new Samsung plant being built in […]
