Maine utility regulators have sided with the Passamaquoddy Tribe in a dispute with its local utility to install solar panels and battery storage across more than 200 homes in Indian Township.

The tribe’s plans have been delayed for almost a year , after Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative argued that the federally funded rooftop arrays amounted to a “single discrete generating facility.” The co-op insisted that meant the arrays collectively had the capacity to produce more power than was allowed to qualify for billing credits that offset homeowners’ electric costs.

The Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday rejected that position. The rule about discrete generating facilities was included in Maine’s net energy billing rules to prevent large developers from hiding the size of single sola

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