Conservation Group To File New Complaint Over Maine’s Solar Rules

The head of the Conservation Law Foundation in Maine says the Maine Supreme Court’s decision not to take up a case involving a new solar rule could affect home solar use in the state. The Supreme Court justices dismissed the case Thursday, saying that the Superior Court has “jurisdiction over appeals from administrative rulemaking proceedings,” and that the case must originate there. The case goes back to March, when the Maine Public Utilities’ Commission instituted a rule that will decrease, over time, the credit generated by home solar users. The Conservation Law Foundation’s Sean Mahoney says under the new rule people with home solar panels are charged for the transmission of energy they generate. “So that is as if you were being charged because you decided not to use your dryer,” Mahoney says.