Mainebiz

C O M M E N TA RY W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 M AY 4 , 2 0 1 5 A s a newly minted member of the Legislature, I wanted to be on the Energy, Utilities and Technology committee. My goal is for Maine to have the cheapest, cleanest power in the nation. I believe that goal is achievable — we already have the cheapest, clean- est power in New England — but I've certainly had an early education on the politics of energy. When I was the CEO of Biddeford- based Correct Building Products LLC, managing eight direct reports and 75 people total, I learned a lot of things the hard way. One of them is you can't tell people exactly what to do — they'll just wonder why you didn't do it yourself. So I learned to focus on goals, communi- cate those goals and try to get everyone working towards them. ere's a clear parallel here to the energy committee: as stewards of the regulations aff ecting Maine energy policy, we can't tell people what to do. We can't tell them to make energy cheaper, cleaner, more widely available or more predictably priced. All we can do is set the goals, and then ask ourselves whether a particular plan or policy tweak will get us closer. ere are many moving parts. To start with, there's the renewable energy credit (REC) market. is is meant to provide an incentive for investing in renewable energy devel- opment, but, as of today, this mar- ket is not really working. In fact, the price of a Maine REC has crashed over the last 18 months, dipping below $4/megawatt. Maine produces approximately 50% of New England's renewable energy, which is partly why Maine's REC market isn't as lucrative as Massachusetts and Connecticut, so that's where our Maine projects fi nd their market opportunity. en there's Maine's 100-megawatt limit for a single source of generation applied to all renewable power except for wind power — larger projects, no matter the type, are not defi ned as renewable. ere is some momentum to increase this limit for hydro projects, which would theoretically provide some incentive for Hydro Quebec to sell power into Maine. As a business owner and signifi cant energy user myself, I'm actually most interested in something I don't hear much about — predictable energy costs. Prices are unpredictable and it seems like we spend most of our time reacting, with regard to policy, to what happened last winter. In the winter of 2013-14, the cost of producing electric- ity skyrocketed because of shortages of natural gas and high crude prices. Everyone assumed the same would happen this winter, but, thanks at least in part to good planning by ISO New England, it did not. In fact, electrical rates are down signifi cantly. e same is true for natural gas. You're probably hearing about a shortage of natural gas in New England. In reality, that shortage does not exist. Because crude oil prices are low, liquefi ed natural gas, a commodity that fl ows similarly to crude in world markets, is at a low price as well. Low-priced LNG, as opposed to piped gas, is supplying our needs well this winter. So we don't need to worry, right? Well, low crude oil and LNG prices today do not mean low crude and LNG prices next winter. I tend to think that a diversity of options: power from wind, solar, biomass (the actual source of most of Maine's renewable power), together with natural-gas-fi red power will have to be available. And a restructured REC market that will draw in cheaper renewable power is needed. at way we can be free to choose the low- est cost option, just like you would at home. If oil's expensive, you're going to run the woodstove more, right? Martin Grohman is a Biddeford entrepreneur and businessperson who is a f irst-term legislator and member of the Legislature's Energy, Utilities, and Technology committee. He hosts a podcast called " e Grow Maine Show," available on iTunes. He can be reached at martin.j.grohman @ gmail.com E V E N T S P O N S O R S Foo ood an and rea real estate te are are inextr nextricab cably conne necte ted in in ma many more more way ays than jus just t seed and soil, and MEREDA's Spring Conference will feature leaders in food/ beverage industries. Coffee, beer, r, r organic produce, sea and freshwater products and an exploding foodie culture here and outside of Maine mean there is growing need for production facilities, enhanced supply chains, specialty storage and many other real property infrastructure assets, old and new. Maine's organic and specialty foods industry is growing and a supply line of food products leads from Maine to the rest of the world, while a steady supply of customers come here to eat and drink, and underneath it all is real estate. Join MEREDA on May 12th from 7 AM to 12 PM at the Holiday Inn By the Bay to learn what's new, what's old and now new again, what opportunities exist exist e and what challenges and hurdles that stand in the way of making Maine even more of a food and beverage resource and thus create more development and redevelopment opportunities. MEREDA's panel of experts moderated by Betsy Biemann, who directs the Maine Food Cluster Project at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, will dig into the growing opport rt r unities that exist for Maine and its closely related industries of food and real estate. MEREDA will also recognize the Top Top T Notable Projects for 2014 and will unveil the newest "MEREDA Index" number. r. r This metric measures the pulse of the state's commercial real estate industry, including sale and lease activity, construction starts and other data, aggregated into one figure as an indicator of t of thi his s importa mportant t sector of Ma tor of Maine ne's eco econom omy. Event Schedule Registration | Breakfast | Exhibits 7:00 — 8:00 AM Program 8:00 AM — 12:00 PM Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Holiday Inn By the Bay 88 Spring Street Portland, ME For more information and to register, r, r visit www.mereda.org Panelists Include · John Piotti Executive Director, r, r Maine Farmland Tr Tr T ust · Jen Faigel Executive Director, r, r CropCircle Kitchen · Chris Hallweaver General Manager, r, r Northern Girl · Dan Kleban, Founder Maine Beer Company · Sam Hayward Chef/ hef/ hef Partner, r, r Fore Street · Mary Allen Lindemann Owner, r, r Coffee by Design · Erik Hayward Vice President, Libra Foundation PORTLANDSTAGE where great theater lives Buy Tickets: 207.774.0465 www.portlandstage.org | 25A Forest Ave, Portland, Maine Papermaker by Monica Wood Apr 21-May 24 Making energy cheaper, cleaner and more predictable B Y M A R T I N G R O H M A N As a business owner and significant energy user myself, I'm actually most interested in some- thing I don't hear much about — predictable energy costs.

• Cover