2008/03/05 Environment Northeast Attorney Michael Stoddard is Appointed to Maine's Newly Created Energy Conservation Board Press

For Immediate Release

March 5, 2008
Contact: Emily Avery-Miller, 207-236-6470

Environment Northeast Attorney Michael Stoddard is Appointed to Maine's Newly Created Energy Conservation Board

Board will Advise on Energy Saving Strategies and Deployment of up to $25 Million Raised by the Sale of Carbon Allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

ROCKPORT, Maine-Environment Northeast (ENE) is pleased to announce that one of its senior attorneys, Michael Stoddard, has been appointed by the Public Utility Commission to the new Maine Energy Conservation Board. The board will advise both the Commission and the new Energy and Carbon Savings Trust on programs to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

The new board is also charged with assisting the Trust in the development, coordination and integration of a comprehensive plan to invest up to $25 million from the sale of pollution allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) into projects that are complementary to Efficiency Maine's ongoing programs.

"ENE is honored to help the PUC and the Energy and Carbon Savings Trust build a clean and affordable energy future for all Mainers," said Daniel Sosland, executive director of Environment Northeast. "The board's mandate advances two of ENE's top policy priorities, helping citizens use energy more efficiently, and implementing a successful carbon cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." 

Maine is on track to be the first among 10 Northeast states to develop a model for incorporating the proceeds from the sale of RGGI pollution permits into energy efficiency programs.The first carbon cap and trade system in the United States, RGGI requires power plants with more than 25 megawatts of generating capacity to obtain a permit for every ton of carbon dioxide emitted.

Last year Maine passed LD 1851, which codifies RGGI and requires power plants to buy the pollution permits through a regional auction. RGGI goes into effect in 2009, and the first auctions of allowances are expected to commence this summer.  The proceeds from the sale of Maine's permits will be placed in the Energy and Carbon Savings Trust fund and are projected to generate up to $25 million per year once the program is fully operational. The Trust will be used to help residential and business consumers save money by investing in higher efficiency lighting systems, motors, refrigeration and other energy consuming equipment.

ENE helped incorporate significant reforms to energy resource planning and efficiency investments into the 2007 RGGI cap and trade bill (LD 1851). These measures built on precedents set by legislation and proposals that ENE advocated in the past, including the 2006 Act to Enhance Maine's Energy Independence and Security, the establishment of a natural gas efficiency program, and appliance efficiency standards. ENE is now working with Maine to explore other energy solutions, including expanding building energy codes, biomass fuels, and making energy efficiency and weatherization programs available to all Maine residents and businesses--especially those that use home heating oil who are currently not served by existing programs.

"I'm looking forward to working with the Commission and the Energy and Carbon Savings Ttust to help Maine lower its energy costs and cut its greenhouse gas emissions," said Michael Stoddard. "The work we do in Maine to funnel RGGI proceeds back into energy efficiency programs could blaze a trail for other states and for our national government to follow."
 
Michael Stoddard has served as an attorney at ENE since 2002 and is a resident of Portland, Maine. Previously, Stoddard was a consultant to nonprofit organizations, including the Clean Energy Group, and the Clean Air Task Force. He also worked with the Federal Trade Commission and the state attorneys general to develop deceptive advertising guidelines for the marketing of environmentally preferable ("green") energy. In November, 2007, Stoddard was appointed to the Governor's Pre-Emergency Energy Task Force, charged with ensuring Mainers keep warm during a time of high heating oil prices. He holds a JD from the University of Maine School of Law and a BA in political economy from Williams College.

Environment Northeast is a non-profit Maine research and policy organization addressing climate change, energy policy clean air and other environmental challenges in the Northeast and eastern Canada with offices in Rockport and Portland Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Prince Edward Island, Canada.
 

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