Renewable Energy: Wind
Issue: Ensuring a Sustainable Future
Target Level of Office: State
Policy Origin: Maine State Legislature
Poilcy/Bill Number: Title 35-A, Chapter 34: The Maine Wind Energy Act
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=210
Summary Narrative of the Policy: Title 35-A, Chapter 34 of Maine State Public Utilities, also
known as the Maine Wind Energy Act, finds and declares that the wind energy resources of
the state constitute a valuable domestic and renewable energy resource and that wind energy
development is an economically feasible, large-scale energy source that does not rely on fossil
fuel combustion or nuclear fission.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• It is important to note that Chapter 34 covers legislative findings and strategic planning
for percentages of wind power integration. Chapter 34-A contains logistics, including all
necessary definitions, requirements, permitting process, judicial appeals process, best
practical mitigation, and other considerations.
• Clean energy is already powering our homes and our economy, and investment in solar
and wind is driving a new era of true American prosperity. According to our partners at the
Sierra Club, Iowa now gets 25 percent of its energy from wind. California will get at least
one-third of its electricity from renewables by the end of the decade. And nationwide,
solar and wind now generate enough energy to power nearly 20 million American homes.
In fact, with strong tax incentives combined with greater leaps in technology, the price of
clean energy has dropped below the price of coal.
• Wind energy is the fastest-growing source of power in the world, and with our tremendous
wind resources the U.S. can become a world leader in wind energy. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy, we can get 20 percent of our power as a nation from wind energy
alone by 2030.
• States like Iowa and South Dakota already get 20 percent of their power from wind.
• Wind energy and wind farm development aren’t just sustainable forms of energy: they
generate profit by bringing construction jobs, leasing royalties, and increased tax revenues
to local communities.
34
State Level
Policy
2014 Book