Solar by state
Solar in Maine, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Maine, from federal 2024 data.
Maine in brief
2.00% of Maine homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 21st-highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 24.29¢/kWh, above the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 8.16 kW. Central Maine Power Company serves 77.9% of homes.
Where does Maine stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Maine sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Maine solar in numbers, 2024
Every Maine figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Maine | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 2.00% | 3.55% | 21st-highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 14,867 | 5,077,543 | 16th-lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 8.16 kW | 6.74 kW | 12th-highest of 51 |
| Residential price | 24.29¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 8th-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $133.60 | $142.26 | 25th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 6,601 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 3rd-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 0.37% | 5.86% | 11th-lowest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 8.9% | 29.1% | 19th-lowest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 24.0% a year | — | 26th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 1,749 | 297 (median state) | 2nd-highest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 0.67% | 11.1% | 18th-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 121.4 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Maine ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Maine, and what does it charge?
The 5 largest utilities selling to Maine homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Maine Power Company | Investor-owned; wires, 90% on its own supply | 577,955 (77.9%) | 23.43¢ | 557 kWh | 12,880 (2.2%) |
| Versant Power | Investor-owned; wires, 95% on its own supply | 137,906 (18.6%) | 28.08¢ | 503 kWh | 1,961 (1.4%) |
| Eastern Maine Electric Co-op | Co-op | 10,803 (1.5%) | 17.06¢ | 503 kWh | 26 (0.24%) |
| Houlton Water Company | Municipal | 3,907 (0.53%) | 11.95¢ | 736 kWh | None reported |
| Town of Madison | Municipal | 2,413 (0.33%) | 15.16¢ | 672 kWh | None reported |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 741,957 Maine residential accounts. Each Maine price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Maine utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 5 utilities serving homes in Maine in 2024, across 741,957 residential accounts. The three largest, Central Maine Power Company, Versant Power and Eastern Maine Electric Co-op, served 98.0% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 96.5%, electric cooperatives 1.5% and small utilities EIA counts as a group 1.2%.
67,035 Maine homes (9.0%) bought their energy from 13 competitive suppliers, while the local utility kept delivering it. On a supplier, the energy price on your bill is the supplier’s, so price a solar quote against your own bill rather than the utility prices in the table.
Central Maine Power Company, the largest, served 577,955 Maine homes (77.9%). Its full-service residential customers paid 23.43¢ per kWh, below the Maine average of 24.29¢, and used 557 kWh a month on average. 12,880 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 2.2% of its homes against 2.00% statewide.
Among the 3 Maine utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 17.06¢ at Eastern Maine Electric Co-op to 28.08¢ at Versant Power.
At the Maine average of 6,601 kWh a year, that 11.02¢ gap is worth about $727 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 24.29¢ Maine average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Central Maine Power Company alone accounts for 12,880 net-metered residential systems, about 87% of the 14,867 counted in Maine, and 3 Maine utilities reported any at all.
What does power cost in Maine, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Maine averaged 24.29¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 8th-highest of 51 and above the national 16.48¢. Maine sits in the top quarter on price, so power used on site replaces power bought at well above the national rate.
The average Maine household bill was $133.60 a month ($1,603 a year), the 25th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,603 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Maine home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 0.67% of Maine homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 97.6% of Maine residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Maine homes have solar?
Maine had 14,867 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 742,549 residential accounts: 2.00% of homes, the 21st-highest of 51. Adoption in Maine sits above the middle of the 51, so there is a working installer market to choose between.
The Maine market counted 4,348 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 24.0% a year over five years, the 26th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Maine solar changed since 2014?
Maine counted 1,519 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 14,867 in 2024, 9.8 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.21% to 2.00%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2024, with 4,348 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,519 | 0.21% | 5.0 kW | 15.27¢ |
| 2016 | 2,628 | 0.38% | 5.9 kW | 15.83¢ |
| 2018 | 4,003 | 0.56% | 6.4 kW | 16.84¢ |
| 2020 | 5,829 | 0.81% | 7.1 kW | 16.81¢ |
| 2022 | 8,295 | 1.14% | 7.6 kW | 22.44¢ |
| 2024 | 14,867 | 2.00% | 8.2 kW | 24.29¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Maine shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Maine trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Maine residential price went from 15.27¢ to 24.29¢ per kWh, up 59%, and the average system from 5.0 kW to 8.2 kW. A rate that has risen that far makes a 2024 bill a conservative base for a Maine savings estimate only if the trend continues, which nobody can promise.
How big is a typical Maine system?
The average Maine system was 8.16 kW in 2024, the 12th-highest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Maine homes used 6,601 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 3rd-lowest of 51.
A Maine home using 6,601 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Maine?
In Maine, 8.9% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 19th-lowest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Most Maine systems are owned by the household, so purchase and loan offers will make up much of what you see. Whoever owns a Maine system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do Maine homes add batteries?
In Maine, 0.37% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (55 systems), the 11th-lowest of 47. Maine’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Maine customer went 1,749 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 274 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Maine turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in Maine?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in Maine, so we publish no company counts. That is not evidence of light regulation: electrical work can be licensed at state or local level even where solar is never named.
With 14,867 systems in Maine, the company quoting you may be based out of state. Ask which license it holds, in which state, and confirm it with that authority. What to do when the search comes back empty.
Which states are closest to Maine on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Maine’s 2.00% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Maine numbers come from?
The Maine figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 14,867 net-metered residential systems counted against 742,549 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 5 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Maine row is in the data as a CSV.
No Maine figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
How many homes in Maine have solar?
What size solar system is typical in Maine?
Do Maine homeowners add batteries to solar?
Is Maine a good state for solar?
Which utility serves the most homes in Maine?
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