Mainers would win with renewable standard

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http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/23/opinion/contributors/mainers-would-win-with-renewable-standard/

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Maine Citizens for Clean Energy formed to put a question on the ballot this November that would achieve those important goals for the future prosperity of Maine. The initiative would ensure 20 percent of Maine’s electricity comes from new renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar, and require utilities to invest in energy efficiency whenever it would reduce costs for ratepayers.

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Environment Northeast, a nonprofit organization that conducts research on environmental challenges with respect to the economy, conducted a comprehensive analysis based on this question to help inform their decision on whether to take a position on this question. The nonpartisan analysis calculated energy costs for ratepayers based on two separate scenarios because of the unpredictability of electricity prices going forward. In both cases, ratepayers can expect lower electric bills.

Under the first scenario, which is the most likely scenario, residential electric bills will increase by about 84 cents a month in 2014 before dropping by $4.40 a month by 2020 and $8.70 a month by 2030.

ENE also conducted a worst-case scenario, considered highly unlikely. Under this scenario, ratepayers’ electric bills would rise by 95 cents a month by 2015 before dropping steadily until they reach 34 cents a month lower each month by 2030.

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