Maine Quarterly Energy Storage Forum

Maine has a Renewable Portfolio Standard of 80% by 2030 and set a goal of 100% by 2050. Additionally, with bipartisan support, the state has set greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements of 45% from 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure progress toward these requirements, the Maine Climate Council released in December 2020 the state’s first four-year plan for climate action, Maine Won’t Wait, which identified energy storage as an important factor in achieving emissions reduction goals and maximizing the value of renewable energy on the grid. In 2021, bipartisan legislation established Maine as the ninth U.S. state with codified energy storage targets: 300 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity within the state by 2025 and 400 MW by 2030.

The creation of a Maine Quarterly Energy Storage Forum was a recommendation of the Maine Energy Storage Market Assessment, released by the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) in March 2022. The forum will leverage the GEO’s role as a convenor by organizing and hosting an ongoing venue for information sharing and policy discussion focused on the development of energy storage in Maine and across New England. This gathering will bring together storage developers, policymakers, utilities, municipalities, consumers, environmental groups, and other interested parties to facilitate discussion on how to encourage energy storage development and meet the state’s energy storage goals in both an equitable and cost-effective manner. The forum will seek out information, case studies, and best practices from neighboring jurisdictions that may inform the development of storage policy in Maine.

Convenings of the storage forum will be posted in advance on this website, as well as on the State of Maine Public Meeting Calendar. 

For more information or to sign up for the interest parties email list, please contact Caroline Colan at caroline.colan@maine.gov. 

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