Northeast

Maine

Maine was the first state to set greenhouse gas reduction targets in 2003, and emissions decreased by 74% between 1990 and 2021. The transportation sector is driving the state’s emissions, primarily due to the geographically spread-out population. Long winters place the residential sector’s emissions closely behind transportation, as buildings require significant heating in the state’s colder months.

GHG Reduction Targets

All targets relative to 1990 levels

2030

45%

2045

Carbon neutral

Governor

Janet T. Mills (Democrat)

House Party

Democratic Majority

Senate Party

Democratic Majority

Legislative session

1/3/24 - 4/17/24

US Climate Alliance Status

Member

Key Offices & Links

27

Policies Enacted or In Progress

across 7 policy areas

See all

35

Policy Opportunities

across 6 policy areas

See all

Northeast

9 states

This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Compare with other states

Progress by Policy Area

Enacted
In-progress
Partially Enacted
Not Enacted

Glossary of Terms

Status	Policy	Policy Area	Policy Category	YR Enacted
Enacted	Clean Energy and Renewable Portfolio Standards Empty column 80% renewable energy by 2030 \| 100% by 2050 Establishing Policies LD 1494 (2019)	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets	2019
Enacted	Clean Energy Plans Empty column Maine Won't Wait: A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action Establishing Policies LD 1679 (2019) Maine Won't Wait: A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action (2020)	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets	2020
Not Enacted	Electricity Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets Empty column Electricity greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets are set by a state to limit GHG emissions in the electricity sector. These targets aim to reduce emissions by different amounts over time, often expressed as percentage relative to a baseline year.	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets
Not Enacted	Community Choice Aggregation Empty column Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider.	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Enacted	Distributed Generation/Solar Carve-out Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Distributed Generation/Solar Carve-out in Maine Policy Components enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted 5/5	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted	Net Metering Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Net Metering in Maine SPOT - Aggregate Net Metering in Maine Policy Components enacted enacted not-enacted not-enacted enacted not-enacted enacted enacted enacted not-enacted not-enacted 6/11	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted	Shared Renewables Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Shared Renewables in Maine Policy Components enacted enacted enacted not-enacted enacted enacted 5/6	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Enacted	Energy Storage Targets Empty column 300 megawatts (MW) of energy storage by 2025 and 400 MW by December 31, 2030 Establishing Policies LD 528 (2021)	Electricity	Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage	2021
Enacted	Interconnection Standards Empty column Maine received a C grade from Freeing the Grid. Establishing Policies Freeing the Grid Maine Grade (2023)	Electricity	Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage	2023
Enacted	Coal Phaseouts Empty column Requires 100% renewable electricity by 2050, and does not include energy derived from coal in its definition of renewable electricity. Establishing Policies LD 1494 (2019)	Electricity	Coal Retirement	2019
Not Enacted	Coal Plant Securitization Empty column Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers.	Electricity	Coal Retirement

Maine

Key Offices & Links

27

35

Northeast

Progress by Policy Area

Climate Governance and Equity

Cross-Sector

Electricity

Buildings and Efficiency

Transportation

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management

Natural and Working Lands

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Maine