An Act to Establish Additional Requirements Related to the Sale or Lease of Net Energy Billing Interests and Solar Energy Equipment

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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX
_____
S.P. 771 - L.D. 1964
An Act to Establish Additional Requirements Related to the Sale or Lease of
Net Energy Billing Interests and Solar Energy Equipment
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the Office of the Public Advocate receives inquiries nearly every day from
Maine consumers who are struggling to understand who their solar provider is or how to
contact their provider with questions about their account; and
Whereas, the sale or lease of solar energy equipment involves significant consumer
investment and long-term contracts, which may be complex; and
Whereas, recent federal tax changes may increase the likelihood of door-to-door
solicitations for the lease of solar energy equipment, and this legislation must take effect
as soon as possible to clarify and improve upon existing consumer protection laws; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now,
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1250-M is enacted to read:
§1250-M. False representation in sale of electricity product
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Competitive electricity provider" has the same meaning as in Title 35-A, section
3201, subsection 5.
B. "Distributed generation resource" has the same meaning as in Title 35-A, section
3481, subsection 5.
C. "Electricity product" means a distributed generation resource, energy supply by a
competitive electricity provider or a similar resource. "Electricity product" does not
APPROVED
MARCH 19, 2026
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
575
PUBLIC LAW
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include an electrical appliance, machinery or equipment or building efficiency services
or products.
D. "Electric utility" means a transmission and distribution utility as defined in Title
35-A, section 102, subsection 20-B.
2. False representation in sale of electricity product. A person may not falsely
represent the person as a representative of, as an affiliate of or as being in any way affiliated
with an electric utility or as a representative of, as an official of or acting in an official
capacity on behalf of a governmental agency or program, unless expressly permitted by the
electric utility or governmental agency or program, when selling, offering to sell, leasing,
installing or entering into any other financial arrangement regarding an electricity product.
3. Unfair trade practice. A violation of this section constitutes a violation of the
Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Sec. 2. 32 MRSA §4661, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1969, c. 395, is amended to
read:
2. Merchandise. "Merchandise" includes any objects, wares, goods, commodities,
intangibles or services. "Merchandise" also includes a contract for a shared financial
interest in a distributed generation resource that has a net energy billing arrangement in
accordance with Title 35-A, section 3209-A or 3209-B and solar energy equipment as
defined in Title 35-A, section 3218, subsection 1.
Sec. 3. 32 MRSA §14701, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2005, c. 347, Pt. E, §1, is
further amended to read:
4. Merchandise. "Merchandise" includes any objects, wares, goods, promises,
commodities, intangibles, services or other things of value but does not include food or
technical or vocational schools located outside of the State that are registered pursuant to
Title 20‑A, section 9501. "Merchandise" also includes a contract for a shared financial
interest in a distributed generation resource that has a net energy billing arrangement in
accordance with Title 35-A, section 3209-A or 3209-B and solar energy equipment as
defined in Title 35-A, section 3218, subsection 1. "Merchandise" does not include
securities that are registered or exempt from registration pursuant to chapter 135, the Maine
Uniform Securities Act and rules adopted pursuant to that Act or insurance products that
are regulated under Title 24‑A.
Sec. 4. 35-A MRSA §3209-A, sub-§5, ¶G-1 is enacted to read:
G-1. As applicable, must comply with the requirements of Title 32, chapter 69,
subchapter 5 and Title 32, chapter 128, subchapter 2;
Sec. 5. 35-A MRSA §3218 is enacted to read:
§3218. Standard written disclosure for sale or lease of solar energy equipment
1. Definition. For the purposes of this section, "solar energy equipment" means all
controls, tanks, pumps, heat exchangers, collectors and other equipment necessary for the
collection, transfer and storage of solar energy. "Solar energy equipment" includes
photovoltaic modules, inverters and racking and electronic control systems. "Solar energy
equipment" does not include passive solar energy systems or those systems using natural
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means to collect, store and transfer solar energy or equipment owned by a transmission and
distribution utility.
2. Standard written disclosure. Beginning June 1, 2026, a person that sells or leases
solar energy equipment that is installed on the customer side of the meter shall, prior to a
sale or lease, provide to the customer a completed standard written disclosure. The
completed standard written disclosure must be provided to the customer in a form that the
customer may keep. The completed disclosures may be provided to the customer in
electronic form, subject to compliance with the consumer consent and other applicable
provisions of federal law, including, but not limited to, the federal Electronic Signatures in
Global and National Commerce Act, 15 United States Code, Chapter 96, as amended. The
standard written disclosure must include the following:
A. The name of the seller or lessor and contact information of the seller or lessor or a
representative of the seller or lessor;
B. The name of the primary installer and contact information of the primary installer;
C. A plain language summary of design, cost and warranty information, including the
average cost of system interconnection by project size based on the previous calendar
year's range of interconnection costs as published annually by the interconnection
ombudsman appointed pursuant to section 107, subsection 1 on the commission's
publicly accessible website pursuant to subsection 4;
D. A checklist of the responsibilities of the seller or lessor, primary installer, customer
and transmission and distribution utility related to the transaction;
E. A description of any dispute resolution mechanisms, including information relating
to the interconnection ombudsman under section 3474, subsection 4, available to the
seller or lessor, primary installer, customer and transmission and distribution utility;
F. Clearly described terms and conditions of any financial agreement or contract
associated with the sale or lease of solar energy equipment, including information
about contract termination and a description of the parties' obligations under the
contract if the customer moves or if the replacement or repair of the customer's roof is
required; and
G. Signature lines for the seller or lessor and customer to attest that the seller or lessor
provided, and the customer received, the standard written disclosure prior to the sale
or lease of the solar energy equipment.
3. Violation. A violation of subsection 2 is a violation of the Maine Unfair Trade
Practices Act.
4. Interconnection costs; reporting. By March 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, each
large, investor-owned transmission and distribution utility shall provide the interconnection
ombudsman appointed pursuant to section 107, subsection 1 with the average
interconnection costs for the previous calendar year by project size. By May 1, 2026, and
annually thereafter, the interconnection ombudsman shall publish on the commission's
publicly accessible website the average interconnection costs by project size along with
disclaimer language regarding the range and factors associated with the cost of
interconnection pursuant to subsection 2, paragraph C.
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Sec. 6. Department of Energy Resources; model forms. By June 1, 2026, the
Department of Energy Resources shall develop 2 model standard written disclosure forms
for the sale and for the lease of solar energy equipment described in the Maine Revised
Statutes, Title 35-A, section 3218, informed by stakeholder input. The department shall
make the disclosure forms available on its publicly accessible website.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation
takes effect when approved.