LD1868 updates the state’s renewable and clean-energy laws by setting a 2040 goal that 90 percent of retail electricity sales come from renewable resources and 10 percent from “clean resources,” including certain nuclear, hydro, and low-emission generators. The law creates a new “Class III” clean-resource category with a phased-in portfolio requirement for competitive electricity providers (ramping from 1 percent in 2031 to 10 percent by 2040), and authorizes the use and trading of “clean energy credits” alongside existing renewable energy credits. It directs the Department of Environmental Protection and governor’s Energy Office to define and verify which resources qualify as clean, expands long-term contracting and procurement rules to cover clean resources and credits (including regional joint procurements), and refines alternative compliance payment, reporting, and consumer information provisions, so that customers can buy certified renewable and clean-energy products while regulators monitor costs and market impacts.
The Maine State Senate passed LD1868 on June 17, 2025 by a vote of 19 to 16. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill entrenches state-directed energy planning and advances the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 goals. Instead of allowing the free market to determine the most efficient and affordable sources of electricity, LD1868 empowers state agencies to dictate what qualifies as acceptable energy, manipulate the market through credits and mandates, and channel taxpayer dollars into politically favored industries. Such central planning mirrors the top-down climate framework promoted by globalist entities, undermining property rights, inflating energy costs, and concentrating power in unelected bureaucracies. Maine should reject this shift toward Agenda 2030-style energy controls and restore a free, competitive energy market.