Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) significantly expands financial incentives for investments in energy efficiency in America’s homes and businesses. The IRA’s tax credits for home efficiency upgrades are described on this page.
The IRA Home Energy Rebates program allows each state to design its own program for distributing rebates, consistent with the rules and requirements of the IRA. In Maine, $71.7 million of the IRA Home Energy Rebates funding will be delivered to the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) and will be passed through to Efficiency Maine to implement the rebate programs.
Maine submitted its plan for the use of its IRA Home Energy Rebates program funds to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in April 2024. The plan prioritizes electrification of space heating, with special focus on low-income households in multifamily buildings and manufactured/mobile homes. Consistent with DOE program guidance, at least 40% of program benefits will be directed to Disadvantaged Communities.
In September 2024, the DOE approved Maine’s plan for the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) and Efficiency Maine launched the associated initiatives on September 18, 2024. Maine’s application for the use of the Home Efficiency Rebates (HER), a second element of the IRA rebate program, is still under review by DOE. For additional details, visit the IRA Home Energy Rebates webpage.
In January 2021, the U.S. Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a federal stimulus bill to aid, among other things, economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan included funding for state governments through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). Approximately $1 billion of the SLFRF was allocated to the State of Maine to respond to the pandemic and support economic recovery.
In May 2021, Governor Mills put forth a proposal – the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan (MJRP) – outlining her administration’s priorities for using these funds. The Maine Legislature approved the plan in July 2021, enacting LD 1733, An Act To Provide Allocations for the Distribution of State Fiscal Recovery Funds.
The MJRP allocated $50 million to the Efficiency Maine Trust (Efficiency Maine) to accelerate weatherization upgrades for low- and moderate-income residents, and to expand energy efficiency investment among local governments, schools, community organizations, and businesses. The MJRP also allocated $8 million to the Maine Department of Transportation to expand state, municipal, and other publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and related infrastructure in partnership with Efficiency Maine.
In collaboration with other agencies and offices of state government, Efficiency Maine prepared a series of five initiatives that incorporate both the goals of the MJRP and the federal guidelines for uses for the SLFRF. These initiatives, each designed to assist different customer segments of the Maine economy, are listed below with links to further information about the available incentive offerings and guidance on how to participate. Efficiency Maine will post updates about future offerings on this webpage.
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Energy Efficiency Initiative for Manufacturers ($6 million)
Provides financial incentives to support high-efficiency, clean energy upgrades for businesses in Maine’s manufacturing sector.
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All ARPA funds must be expended by December 31, 2026.
In November 2021, the U.S. Congress enacted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) — to support a broad range of infrastructure needs. In addition to investments in highways, transit, broadband, clean water, and electric grid renewal, the bill provides $7.5 billion to build a national network of EV chargers through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Maine will receive approximately $19 million of these funds and will have the opportunity to apply for additional grant funding to expand EV charging.
Efficiency Maine, MaineDOT, the Governor’s Energy Office, and other state agencies, with input from stakeholders, developed a Plan for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment (PEVID) outlining how the state plans to use NEVI and other funding sources to expand public EV charging over the next five years. The plan is available for download here.
Efficiency Maine has been contracted by MaineDOT and the Governor’s Energy Office to administer NEVI funds for EV charging. As NEVI-funded grant opportunities for EV chargers become available, Efficiency Maine will post relevant information below and on its Opportunities page.
In June 2024, the future locations of 17 new high-speed (Level 3 or DC) electric vehicle charging stations in Maine were announced as part of the State’s commitment to expand an accessible and reliable network of EV chargers for residents and visitors. The total investment in the charging infrastructure is nearly $8.6 million. Funding for the charging includes $5.7 million from National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program, an initiative of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, $2.8 million through the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, and settlement funds from the New England Clean Energy Connect project.
Selection of sites were made through the State’s Recharge Maine initiative, a partnership among the Maine Department of Transportation, Efficiency Maine, the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, the Governor’s Energy Office, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
More details on all Efficiency Maine EV charging initiatives can be found here.
Maine was awarded a $15 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program (a component of the BIL) designed to deploy publicly accessible electric vehicle charging and alternative fueling infrastructure in urban and rural areas, as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
Efficiency Maine has announced four (4) Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) chargers funded by the CFI Program. These opportunities can be found here:
Efficiency Maine has also announced two Request for Proposals for DC fast chargers funded by the CFI Program:
