Nautilus Solar Energy announced the acquisition of eight community solar projects in Maine totaling 47.2 MWdc from ISM Solar Development.
The projects, located in Cumberland, Knox, Oxford and York counties are expected to start construction in Q3 2021. These projects will provide a clean energy option to almost 10,000 households within the Central Maine Power (CMP) electric utility territory.
These projects are part of Maine’s Net Energy Billing program, which was amended in June 2019 by Governor Mills to provide renewable energy benefits and reduced costs for its residential customers. Nautilus is the owner of the projects and is also responsible for acquiring and managing customer subscriptions.
Any residential CMP utility customer is eligible to subscribe to the projects through Nautilus with no upfront cost, no long-term commitment and no cancellation fees.
The projects are expected to generate nearly 70 million kilowatt hours (kWhs) annually, contributing to Maine’s goals of providing economic growth, workforce opportunities, and relying on 80 percent clean energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.
Nautilus and ISM earlier completed two operational projects in Rhode Island, including Burrillville, the longest running residential community solar project in the state.
“This acquisition expands our renewable energy presence in Maine, and symbolizes Nautilus’s pledge to provide equitable, affordable access to community solar for all Mainers,” said Jim Rice, co-founder and co-CEO of Nautilus Solar.