Radio Address: Now id the Time to Get Hydropower from Canada

Statement

We've been saying it for years: Maine's high electricity prices are not competitive. Affordable energy is just over the border, but politics is preventing us from getting it.

Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.

Maine residents spend nearly double the national average for energy. In fact, Maine has the 12th highest electricity cost in the country.

We were glad to see reports this week detailing the five large-scale hydropower proposals that could send thousands of megawatts to the Northeast, which would lower energy bills for Mainers.

We have been trying to get inexpensive hydropower from Canada for years, but to no avail. States to our south are now working to get it. We must take advantage of this inexpensive power that will be flowing right past us.

But environmentalists, newspapers and Augusta politicians keep blocking our efforts to reduce energy prices for Maine and New England.

Their policies also drive away large manufacturers that provide good-paying career jobs for the Maine people. Our high natural gas and electricity prices have been cited in the closing a number of mills in Maine.

Rather than invest in Northeastern states, major manufacturing companies take their jobs to the Southeast, where energy costs and taxes are much lower.

We have said repeatedly that we welcome any form of energy that actually lowers the cost of energy in Maine. But we need lower costs now, not decades into the future.

Despite the objections of liberals, we have been focused on reducing energy costs. We are working with other New England governors--Democrats and Republicans--to get affordable natural gas from Pennsylvania into our region.

In May, I testified in Washington, D.C. before the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Energy and Power. I urged them to speed up the federal permitting process for producers of clean and affordable energy.

Since 2012, Mainers have installed over 10,000 heat pumps, reducing heating costs for households and small businesses. Since 2013, we have devoted resources to help Mainers reduce their home heating costs through incentives ranging from insulation to heating system upgrades--the first time the state has put funds toward one of our greatest energy challenges.

We have introduced a bill several times since 2011 to remove the 100-megawatt limit on hydropower, which would allow us to get inexpensive hydropower from Quebec. But politicians who are indebted to wealthy environmentalists and special interests keep rejecting it.

It makes no sense to ignore the clean and affordable energy that is available right next to us. Despite my efforts, I cannot do it alone. I need your help.

If you want lower electric bills, lower home-heating costs and better jobs, please urge your representative and senator to support common-sense efforts to get affordable energy to Maine.

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