On December 15, 2021, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office and Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future released a Clean Transportation Roadmap for the state. The Roadmap examines strategies to support the deployment of clean vehicles and supporting infrastructure throughout Maine, including personal vehicles, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, and investments in public transit.
The Roadmap was required by executive order from Governor Janet Mills, to support the state’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, released in December 2020. That plan identified adopting clean transportation as a critical climate action, because transportation emissions account for more than half of the state’s climate pollution. To address this, Maine has set targets of 219,000 light-duty EVs on the road and reducing transportation emissions by 45 percent by 2030.
“The move to clean transportation can reduce costs for Maine drivers, while bringing benefits to Maine, especially as sources of renewable energy increase,” said Dan Burgess, Director of the Governor’s Energy Office. “Maine spends more than $4 billion annually to import fossil fuels and the Clean Transportation Roadmap offers options for how Maine can keep more of that money at home and create long-term climate and economic benefits to the state.”
The Roadmap will build on recent progress in the state. In 2021, Maine reached a record number of electric vehicle registrations (5,677) and sales rebates (1,220), and availability of public EV charging stations (246). Rebates for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are now available from Efficiency Maine, including enhanced rebates for low-income Mainers and municipal EV purchases.