By Darren Fishell, BDN Maine.
As other New England states add incentives for heating systems that use renewable energy sources, Maine’s top energy official said he’s taking a wait-and-see approach.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire have both added thermal energy to their renewable portfolio standards, which in Maine provides a subsidized market for electricity generators using renewable power.
Renewables advocates in the Northeast point to heating as a prime area of opportunity in the region’s cold climates. Patrick Woodcock, head of the Governor’s Energy Office, said during a Jan. 21 forum in Hallowell he thinks adding thermal energy “could have huge benefits.”