Jan. 8—Gov. Janet Mills wants to create a new state department of energy to better manage Maine’s infrastructure and supply issues and to help residents access affordable and reliable energy.
The proposal would elevate the Governor’s Energy Office to a Cabinet-level department if approved by lawmakers as part of the two-year budget, and would have no additional cost or impact on the state budget, the governor’s office said.
“Energy plays an essential role in our daily lives and significantly impacts our economy, but it is not represented as a cabinet-level office here in Maine like it is in nearly every other state,” Mills said in a written statement.
“By transitioning the Energy Office to a Department, we can strengthen our ability to bring down the cost of energy, ensure that our energy infrastructure is strong and reliable for all Maine people, and have a greater say in our energy future,” she said.
Maine is one of only a handful of states in the U.S. that have an energy office within the governor’s office, while more than 40 states have energy offices with Cabinet-level leadership, according to Mills’ office.
In recent years, the Maine Legislature has expanded the responsibilities of the Energy Office, and the office has worked to secure more than $200 million in federal funding to support grid resilience and innovation, energy efficiency, and workforce development, among other investments for Maine.
Elevating the office to a Cabinet-level position would be commensurate with those responsibilities, Mills said.
The office currently has 20 full-time staff members and an operating budget of about $5.7 million, with $2.4 million allocated in the state general fund budget and the remainder coming from federal sources and grants.
The annual operating budget is expected to increase with new federal funding the office has secured that is not yet reflected in the budget, a spokesperson for the office said Wednesday.
Mills is expected to unveil her biennial budget proposal Friday. If approved by lawmakers, the Energy Office would transition to the Department of Energy Resources by the end of the year. It would be led by a commissioner to be appointed by the governor and, like all Cabinet-level positions, subject to confirmation by the Legislature.
The governor’s Cabinet is currently made up of 14 department heads plus the executive director of the Workers’ Compensation Board.
The department would replace the state Energy Office and assume the same core duties, including serving as the lead agency on matters related to energy resources, policies, planning, data, markets, energy security and program implementation.
The department would take on some additional authority to conduct competitive energy procurements to achieve Maine’s electric demand and reliability needs, consistent with the practice of energy departments in other states. It would continue to work with other state agencies, the Maine Public Utilities Commission and other state, regional and federal partners.
Dan Burgess, director of the Energy Office, expressed support for the proposal in a written statement from the governor’s office. Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-Eliot, and Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, co-chairs of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, and Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, also voiced support.
“Transitioning to a standalone department will strengthen the work of the Governor’s Energy Office by ensuring a more durable and integrated structure that is able to take a comprehensive approach to energy planning and policy,” Burgess said in the statement.
“By designating a cabinet seat focused solely on energy issues, Maine will be in a stronger position to deliver more affordable energy, advance our energy goals, and grow the state’s economy.”
This is not the first time a proposal to elevate the Energy Office has been put forward.
Under the LePage administration in 2017, House Republicans put forward legislation to remove the Energy Office from the Governor’s Office and establish an energy seat in the Cabinet.
The 2017 legislation proposed activities for the office including energy planning, data analysis, and the implementation of an oil dependence reduction plan, among other tasks.
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