Ross Anthony

In this presentation, Ross Anthony, who serves as the Buildings and Energy Efficiency Analyst for the Maine Governor’s Energy Office, will provide an overview of energy efficiency and beneficial electrification initiatives, policies, programs, and goals. There will be a particular focus on heat pumps, weatherization, and heat pump water heater benefits, incentives, and environmental impact.

Maine Won’t Wait is Maine’s four-year climate plan packed with actionable strategies and goals to emit less carbon, produce energy from renewable sources, and protect our natural resources, communities, and people from the effects of climate change. This climate action plan identified that heating, cooling, and lighting of buildings are responsible for almost one-third of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions. Maine is a national outlier for its overreliance on delivered fuels with 58% of homes relying on fuel oil (i.e., heating oil and kerosene) for home heating compared to 4% nationally, making Maine the most residential fuel oil dependent state in the country. Maine also has an aging housing stock of roughly 550,000 homes, with many dwellings built in 1960 or earlier suffering from energy inefficient weatherization. Energy efficiency and beneficial electrification are important tools to reduce energy costs, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, manage energy demand, and create clean energy jobs.

The Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) is the designated state energy office and serves as the primary advisor to the Governor on energy issues. The GEO seeks to advance energy solutions that are clean, affordable, and dependable for the benefit of all Maine people. Ross Anthony serves as the Buildings and Energy Efficiency Analyst within the GEO. In this capacity, he tracks and advises on buildings and energy efficiency programs, policies, and opportunities needed to meet Maine’s energy and climate requirements, reduce emissions and energy costs, and strengthen Maine’s clean energy economy.

This event is part of Recharge Rockland’s event series, co-sponsored with the Rockland Public Library, titled “The Energy of Everything!” This is a mini speaker series exploring energy in its different forms: energy through history, energy in relationships, and Maine’s energy future. Recharge Rockland is the City of Rockland’s energy efficiency outreach program, getting the word out to the community about state and federal incentives available for energy efficiency and electrification. Information from Recharge Rockland about current incentives will be available at each speaker event.

This event will take place exclusively in the library’s Community Room. For more information, please email elewis@rocklandmaine.gov.