MAINE MONITOR • February 13, 2026
Cold snaps like those that recently gripped Maine cause natural gas prices to skyrocket and electricity prices along with them. That’s because natural gas accounted for 55 percent of total electricity generation on the New England grid in 2025. Energy policy consultant Jeremy Payne says it’s taking too long for generation projects such as wind or solar farms to get through initial state environmental review and ultimately connect to the New England grid. Philip Bartlett II, chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said, “There’s a lot we need to do both in terms of replacing outdated assets but also modernizing the grid so that it can accommodate [electric vehicles] and other [power sources] that we want to put on the grid, and make it much more flexible.” Adding more capacity to the grid to accommodate more renewable energy projects, however, would cost ratepayers more in the short term.