Portland, Maine– access Community Solar farms
Ampion connects people in Portland, Maine with Community Solar gardens, enabling residents to help the environment while saving money!
With no upfront costs and nothing to install, joining a Community Solar farm in Portland, ME is the easiest way to help the environment by using clean, climate-friendly energy to power communities like yours.
Read on to learn how you can lower your electric bill, help the planet, and energize your community by accessing clean, renewable energy.
Community Solar serving Portland, Maine
Solar Farm
Power Grid
Your Community
Community Solar– From the solar farm to the power grid to Portland, Maine
Solar farms in the Portland, ME area generate electricity from sunlight and send it to the utility grid where it becomes part of the overall power supply. Homes and businesses in Portland and surrounding communities receive electricity like they always have, only now it’s a little greener.
Solar energy credits or kWh reductions are applied to your energy bill monthly
Ampion members are matched with a local solar farm in the Portland area and assigned a portion of the energy it produces. Depending on the program, that “share” of energy comes back to members on their utility bill in the form of either renewable energy credits or kWh reductions — reducing or even completely offsetting electricity costs!
You get the credits or kWh reductions at a 15% discount
Each month you’ll be billed by Ampion at a discounted rate for every dollar of credit or kWh reduction received on your utility bill, based on your solar energy allocation. In Maine, the discount is 15%. Think of this as every dollar of credit only costing you 85 cents. So you pay Ampion less than what you’d pay your utility! This is where the savings come in. And those savings add up, resulting in more affordable energy for you and a more sustainable community for Portland, Maine!
Accessing Community Solar– Portland, Maine
Community Solar became an option for Portland residents and businesses with the recent passage of several state laws. In 2019, Maine became the 21st state to pass Community Solar legislation that encourages development of these renewable energy projects. The laws aim to significantly increase access to Community Solar and other renewables for businesses and residents, regardless of the type of building or home they’re in.
In addition to Community Solar, Portland also has municipally owned solar projects, including a solar array at the Riverside Golf Course that generates enough electricity to charge the golf carts, a 1MW solar array atop the closed Ocean Avenue Landfill that about 3.5% of the city’s annual electricity use, and a solar array on Portland’s International Jetport garage canopy that is believed to be the largest roof mounted PV array in Maine. It generates enough electricity to cover half the garage and rental car facility’s electricity use.
To learn more about Community Solar in Maine, be sure to check out the Maine Public Utilities Commission website (PUC for short). It’s got a nice summary of the programs, with links to more information for those who feel ambitious. The Net Energy Billing page summarizes the high level requirements of the program, and links to the list of program participants who are registered with the PUC (including Ampion!) to make the program run.
Lower your Utility Bill, Help the Planet, Energize your Community
Check your eligibility for Community Solar from Ampion
External Resources
Electric Utilities in Maine:
Local Links:
- Portland’s Sustainability Office lists its clean energy targets on the Climate Action section of the city website
- Solar Power is an important part of how Portland plans to meet these objectives
