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Maine could become the first state to ultimately turn away from coal and gas power plants.

It’s great to hear state governments stepping up to the challenge of transforming energy production towards renewable sources.

And that’s precisely what Maine has done in their recent announcement.

Utility Dive has this information on the upcoming changes to renewable energy in Maine.

“The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved on Tuesday the terms for 546 MW of renewable energy projects, of which 482.5 MW were new solar resources. The projects mark the largest renewable energy procurement in the state's history, representing about 10% of the state's load.”

There will be 17 companies tied into a 20-year contract to make this capacity improvement possible.

It’s a significant shift in the direction of solar energy production in a state where the current solar output is only 90 MW. Essentially, it’s a fivefold increase in solar energy.

What I like about this move is that it’s a decisive effort to make the state 100% renewable energy reliant by 2050.

And if their past goals are anything to go by, then Maine might achieve that goal a lot sooner.

It would be exciting to see if Maine could become the first state to ultimately turn away from coal and gas power plants.


Chris is one of GreenCitizen’s writers who has been a long-time advocate of individual responsibility when it comes to the environment. He shares GreenCitizen's passion for making the world a better place every day of the year.

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