APPROVED CHAPTER
MAY 3, 2022 716
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
_____
H.P. 1159 - L.D. 1554
An Act To Provide Climate Change Transition Assistance for Maine's
Energy-intensive Businesses
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §10109, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 2017, c. 282, §1, is
repealed.
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §10109, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2021, c. 298, §3, is further
amended to read:
4. Expenditures; projects. Except for transfers required under subsection 3‑A and
other costs authorized in accordance with this chapter, funds in the trust fund must be
expended in accordance with this subsection.
A. Trust funds must be allocated for measures, investments, loans, technical assistance
and arrangements that reduce electricity consumption, increase energy efficiency or
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs at commercial or industrial
facilities and for investment in measures that lower residential heating energy demand
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The measures that lower residential heating
demand must be fuel-neutral and may include, but are not limited to, energy efficiency
improvements to residential buildings, energy storage systems and upgrades to
efficient heating systems that will reduce residential energy costs and greenhouse gas
emissions, as determined by the board. The trust shall ensure that measures to reduce
the cost of residential heating are available for low-income households as defined by
the trust. When promoting electricity cost and consumption reduction, the trust may
consider measures at commercial and industrial facilities that also lower peak capacity
demand, including energy storage systems. Subject to the apportionment pursuant to
this subsection, the trust shall fund conservation programs that give priority to
measures with the highest benefit-to-cost ratio, as long as cost-effective collateral
efficiency opportunities are not lost, and that:
(1) Reliably reduce greenhouse gas production and heating energy costs by fossil
fuel combustion in the State at the lowest cost in funds from the trust fund per unit
of emissions; or
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 (2) Reliably increase the efficiency with which energy in the State is consumed at
the lowest cost in funds from the trust fund per unit of energy saved.
B. Expenditures from the trust fund relating to conservation of electricity and
mitigation or reduction of greenhouse gases must be made predominantly on the basis
of a competitive bid process for long-term contracts, subject to rules adopted by the
board under section 10105. Rules adopted by the board to implement the competitive
bid process under this paragraph may not include an avoided cost methodology for
compensating successful bidders. Bidders may propose contracts designed to produce
greenhouse gas savings or electricity conservation savings, or both, on a unit cost basis.
Contracts must be commercially reasonable and may require liquidated damages to
ensure performance. Contracts must provide sufficient certainty of payment to enable
commercial financing of the conservation measure purchased and its installation.
C. The board may target bid competitions in areas or to participants as they consider
necessary, as long as the requirements of paragraph A are satisfied.
D. Community-based renewable energy projects, as defined in section 3602,
subsection 1, may apply for funding from the trust to the extent they are eligible under
paragraph A.
E. The size of a project funded by the trust fund is not limited as long as funds are
awarded to maximize energy efficiency and support greenhouse gas reductions and to
fully implement the triennial plan.
F. No more than $800,000 of trust fund receipts in any one year may be used for the
costs of administering the trust fund pursuant to this section. The limit on
administrative costs established in this paragraph does not apply to the following costs
that may be funded by the trust fund:
(1) Costs of the Department of Environmental Protection for participating in the
regional organization as defined in Title 38, section 580‑A, subsection 20 and for
administering the allowance auction under Title 38, chapter 3‑B; and
(2) Costs of the Attorney General for activities pertaining to the tracking and
monitoring of allowance trading activity and managing and evaluating the trust's
funding of conservation programs.
G. In order to minimize administrative costs and maximize program participation and
effectiveness, the trustees shall, to the greatest extent feasible, coordinate the delivery
of and make complementary the energy efficiency programs under this section and
other programs under this chapter.
H. The trust shall consider delivery of efficiency programs by means of contracts with
service providers that participate in competitive bid processes for reducing energy
consumption within individual market segments or for particular end uses.
I. A trade association aggregator is eligible to participate in competitive bid processes
under this subsection.
J. Trust fund receipts must, upon request by the Department of Environmental
Protection, fund research approved by the Department of Environmental Protection in
an amount of up to $100,000 per year to develop new categories for carbon dioxide
emissions offset projects, as defined in Title 38, section 580‑A, subsection 6, that are
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 located in the State. Expenditures on research pursuant to this paragraph are not
considered administrative costs under paragraph F, subparagraph (1).
K. The trust shall establish an industrial climate transition initiative to develop and
support climate change mitigation strategies designed to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions at industrial facilities in the State. In establishing the initiative and
developing climate change mitigation strategies for industrial facilities, the trust shall:
(1) Prioritize mitigation strategies identified in the State's climate action plan, as
adopted and updated under Title 38, section 577, that offer the most cost-effective
means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities; and
(2) Consider mitigation strategies and other recommendations identified by any
working group, task force or other advisory body that is established by the Maine
Climate Council, established under Title 38, section 577-A, to develop strategies
and other recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial
facilities in the State.
The trust may allocate funds from the trust fund, and may expend any federal funds or
other public or private funding that may be available, to establish the initiative under
this paragraph and to develop and support climate change mitigation strategies
designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities in the State.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
EFFICIENCY MAINE TRUST
Efficiency Maine Trust Z100
Initiative: Provides funding to the Efficiency Maine Trust to be deposited in the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative Trust Fund established under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title
35-A, section 10109, subsection 2 and used to fund the establishment and activities of the
industrial climate transition initiative under Title 35-A, section 10109, subsection 4,
paragraph K.
GENERAL FUND 2021-22 2022-23
All Other $0 $500,000
__________ __________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL $0 $500,000
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1554, HP 1159: 35-A.10109
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 716: 35-A.10109