Democrat-controlled statehouses endorsing clean energy
By MARINA VILLENEUVE and MICHAEL CASEY | yesterday

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Soon after taking office, Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills announced renovation plans for the governor’s mansion. She wanted to add solar panels.

The move was seen as a rebuke to her predecessor, Republican Gov. Paul LePage, whose administration put a moratorium on new wind turbines and enacted policies that critics say stymied solar energy in the state.

Mills has moved quickly to scrap the turbine moratorium and signed a bill that would eliminate a LePage-era policy that put a fee on power generated by residential solar panels.

Maine is among 11 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, that either flipped the governor’s seat from Republican to Democrat or saw Democrats win newfound control over the Legislature in the 2018 elections. All have passed or are weighing legislation that would expand renewables in their states, The Associated Press found.

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