In 1994, the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant accounted for 33% of Maine’s power according to MaineBiz. In 2005, the power plant was decommissioned due to safety concerns and high operating costs. After that, Maine made changes to incorporate renewable energy.

Some of the major catalysts that contributed to Maine’s changes towards renewable energy, according to MaineBiz, included:

• “The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (2007) encouraging greater use of clean (i.e. non-fossil-fuel) energy”;

• “The 2000 deregulation of the two major electric utilities, Central Maine Power and Bangor Hydro, forcing them to sell their power-generation assets”, and;

• The “2008 Wind Energy Act” which set goals for installing wind capacity throughout the state.

Making up about 1/5 Maine’s net energy, the industrial sector primarily uses biomass, hydroelectric and natural gas turbines to generate power. Maine is now part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, “a bipartisan coalition of 21 states committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement”(MaineBiz). Because of these efforts, Maine is now one of the 10 states that have the lowest carbon emissions. To learn more about emissions and what causes them, read our blog post on carbon emissions!