Maine’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has launched an effort to support the production of renewable energy on agricultural land contaminated by “forever chemicals,” or PFAS.
The agency opened a request for proposals (RFP) to purchase energy or renewable energy credits from projects located on contaminated land.
The PUC is looking to procure up to 1,573,026 megawatt-hours worth of energy from qualifying operations.
For comparison, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the average household used about 10.7 megawatt-hours worth of electricity annually. Based on this, the Maine PUC is looking to purchase enough energy or energy credits to power about 145,772 households for a year.
Proposals must be submitted to the Maine PUC by 11:59pm on Friday, July 25.
Selected bidders will enter into a contract with Central Maine Power (CMP) and/or Versant Power for a 20-year term, unless the Maine PUC finds that a longer term is appropriate.
According to the RFP documents shared by the Maine PUC, projects will only be accepted if they are determined to benefit ratepayers, meaning that “a contract is more likely than not to produce ratepayer benefits that exceed costs.”
Primary preference will be given to projects where at least 90 percent of their footprint is located on contaminated land.
“This RFP demonstrates Maine’s strong commitment to both advancing clean energy and supporting the reuse of contaminated land for economic benefit,” said Commission Chair Philip L. Bartlett II.
“By prioritizing projects on PFAS-contaminated agricultural land, were helping communities turn environmental challenges into opportunities for sustainable development and cost savings for ratepayers,” Bartlett said.
