Maine House speaker touts clean energy in stop at former Loring Air Force Base

On a statewide tour highlighting Maine’s rising energy costs, Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau touted clean energy as a solution to diversify the power grid. Fecteau, D-Biddeford, appeared at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone Thursday, where he toured a set of municipal solar arrays that cover roughly 70% of the electricity needs of the town and magnet high school within it. “This is a great example of how communities can take charge and address energy challenges on their own,” Fecteau said. Retail electricity costs in Maine have risen nearly 80% in the last decade, owing to aging infrastructure and the destabilization of the global gas market in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other conflicts.