Apparently Maine, not California (followed closely by Colorado), has the highest renewable energy standard in the country, and Governor Paul LePage wants to get rid of it. According to Gov. LePage, the 44 percent renewable energy requirement puts Maine at an economic disadvantage because it drives up the cost of energy in his state. Maine Public Broadcast Network quoted Gov. LePage:

The next closest to us is Massachusetts, at 20 percent, and we can’t compete with states like Wisconsin, Wyoming, Nevada, Nebraska, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee.

So we need to get rid of the renewable portfolio. We need to reduce that.

Maine is not alone. Renewable energy is driving up the cost of electricity across the globe. The European Union predicts a 100 percent increase in electricity prices by 2050 due to their renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS). Earlier this year my colleague William Yeatman estimated that Colorado’s RPS will cost rate payers more than $100 million in 2011 alone.

Time for Colorado to follow Governor LePage’s lead.