Summit Announces Renewable Natural Gas Initiative

As part of its three-part renewable gas program, Summit will partner with Maine’s dairy producers to produce clean, home-grown, energy.

5/23/2019

CLINTON, ME – Summit Utilities, Inc., the parent company of Summit Natural Gas of Maine, Inc., today announced a new renewable natural gas program aimed at supporting the local economy and fighting climate change. The program outlines three steps the company is taking to build a sustainable energy future:

• Partnering with Maine’s dairy industry to develop home-grown renewable natural gas through the construction of an anaerobic digester in Maine’s dairy capital, Clinton.
• Matching 5 percent of its Maine residential gas demand for the next year by purchasing renewable gas attributes (similar to carbon credits) at no cost to ratepayers.
• Developing a voluntary option for Maine customers to fund the purchase of RNG attributes to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Summit plans to invest approximately $20 million on this program. “We are excited to be investing significant resources to create green, renewable jobs in Maine,” added Adams.

Summit began constructing its natural gas system in Maine in 2013. Since that time, the company has invested more than $340 million to make natural gas available to customers throughout the Kennebec Valley, Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth. The company has also provided $3 million in energy efficiency rebates to convert residential, commercial and large industrial customers from oil to natural gas using high efficiency equipment. In Maine, more than 60 percent of homes heat with oil, which generate 27 percent more carbon emissions than if they were heated with natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Adding efficient equipment can reduce emissions by an additional 11 percent according to data from Efficiency Maine. In total, that means the typical customer switching from old oil equipment to efficient natural gas heat could reduce their carbon emissions by 38 percent. This is a carbon avoidance equivalent to installing solar panels systems to meet a family’s yearly electric needs on two Maine homes.

The company’s renewable gas program is the next step in its effort to build a sustainable energy future in Maine.