Maine Energy Policy: Ten Principles

Approved by the Energy Resources Council on December 2, 2003

1) Competitively - priced energy is vital to the state's economy and the well-being of its citizens . Maine should strive to provide energy to all its citizens at the lowest possible cost to promote economic development and retain jobs;

2) Maine should increase its energy security , service quality and reliability through greater reliance on cost-effective energy efficiency, conservation, demand management and distributed resources in all energy-using sectors;

3) Maine 's energy policy ultimately relies on the health of competitive markets;

4) When barriers prevent the effective operation of energy markets or when these markets do not take the long-term societal and environmental impacts of energy decisions into account , the State should look to other tools to achieve its goals, including: regulation, education, taxation policies, subsidies and leadership by example;

5) An adequate and reliable energy delivery infrastructure is critical to economic growth and to continued expansion of competitive energy markets;

 6) Maine should continue to support indigenous renewable energy resources in all energy using sectors to ensure that Maine participates in an effective manner in national and international efforts to promote energy independence, diversity and long-term sustainability;

 7) State policies should seek to minimize the unnecessary environmental and public health impacts of energy production, distribution and use;

 8) State Government should lead by example and action in its energy usage practices and policies;

9) Maine people should have access to adequate information on the costs, environmental, and other impacts of their own energy choices to ensure that they can make informed decisions; and

10) Active interagency coordination on state, regional and federal energy policy offers many opportunities to make more efficient and effective use of State resources .

Maine's energy choices are integrally linked to the health of Maine's economy and environment. The State must carefully and deliberately balance oftentimes competing interests when crafting State energy policies, programs and activities. While striking the appropriate balance may be a difficult exercise in specific situations, the State will use the above principles to guide its work.