With some hard legislative work, and assuming other manufacturing issues align, a year from now you might be able to walk into your favorite hardware store and buy a plug-in solar panel.
Once home, you’ll align the panel with the sun, plug it into your wall socket (indoor or outdoor), and start generating your own electricity. Utah residents are doing this as you read this. Germans and Spaniards have had this technology for a few years.
LD 1730 (An Act to Make Small, Portable, Plug-in Solar Generation Devices Accessible for All Maine Residents to Address the Energy Affordability Crisis) is in committee discussion this week, on Tuesday January 6. If you’d like to submit testimony in support of the bill, follow this link.
Here is a legislative brief concerning the bill:
We’re in good company with this: NH, VT, and NY are also moving solar plug-in legislation forward this year. If you’d like to learn more, listen to this Local Energy Rules podcast, or this Volts podcast.
Adding your thoughts to the legislative testimony before 0900 on 1/6/26 would be a great step to ensuring this solution becomes viable.
Winter Warmth Potluck
Along with plug-in solar, we’d consider the warmth of friends old and new as a hearty—and proven—solution to some of what is ailing our world these days. Later this month (1/29/26) we’re hosting a Winter Warmth Potluck at the First Congregational Church in Camden. There’s no agenda—a chance to eat food that you didn’t cook, perhaps meet a new neighbor, and just hang out with other Camden and Rockport residents. See more in the calendar below.
Energy Coaching and Emergency Preparation Grant Update
As many of you know, the towns of Camden and Rockport are beneficiaries of a state Community Resilience Partnership grant to start an Energy Coaching Program and to improve local emergency preparedness. The folks working on the grant have made great progress. The first cohort of volunteer energy coaches is finishing their training and will soon be able to help local homeowners consider steps to weatherize their homes and upgrade heating systems. Coaches will also share information on state and local resources available to help with the cost of home improvements.
We’ll have more details on how to sign up for an energy coach visit in future newsletters, but in the meantime you can read more on how to reduce your home’s energy use here.
To find out about neighborhood preparedness pods — self-organized groups of folks who can count on each other for support in a disaster — you can listen to the local rollout of this concept in the second half of this video (starting at about 26 minutes) from the Camden Public Library. After seeing that presentation, if you’re interested in becoming a neighborhood pod leader, email energyprogram@rockportmaine.gov to get on the list for upcoming events and trainings.
Correction Regarding “Light Years”
We erred in our last newsletter, and we’d like to thank a reader for pointing it out. Our statement that the sun was “light years away” jumped out at this engaged reader, who pointed out that light generated at the sun takes only 8 minutes to reach our planet—hardly a light year. Our apologies to you, our readers, and our continued thanks to each of you who takes the time to point our ways we can improve our work.
Upcoming Events
1/8/2026, Thursday, 6:30 pm-7:45 pm, Camden Public Library. Camden Talks Climate with the Energy Coaching Program, “Buttoning up Your Home: DIY Weatherization” with energy auditor Colin McCullough. Learn how to make your house warmer, reduce drafts, and save money on heating bills this winter and beyond! Colin McCullough, a certified energy auditor, will share some simple, low-cost DIY steps to keep heat from escaping your home—including caulking, window improvements, air sealing, and more. Colin McCullough teaches building science and runs All-Around Home Performance in Farmingdale. This session is supported by a Maine Community Resilience Partnership grant to Camden and Rockport. Attend in person or via Zoom (registering in advance, follow this link), and the presentation will be recorded.
1/13/2026, Tuesday, 4:00 pm-5:00 pm, Camden Public Library, next session of CamdenCAN’s Resilient Reading Group. Facilitated conversation circle exploring living in a climate-changed world. Our current book is Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart/Brian D. McLaren. See more about it here. You don’t need to attend all gatherings—drop-ins are welcome. The next date will be 1/27/26—we’ll be picking out our next book then, too.
1/20/2026, Tuesday, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm, Flatbread Pizza, Rockport, Midcoast Climate, Energy, and Green Building Happy Hour. See your neighbors, have a drink, share an announcement, job or idea. See their newsletter here.
1/29/2026, Thursday, 5:30 pm-8:00 pm, First Congregational Church, Camden. Winter Warmth Community Potluck. A no-stress, no-agenda community meal fostering new connections. All are invited and the event is free and open to the public. More information will follow—mark your calendars now, though! If you’d like to sign up for a dish, see here: https://www.PerfectPotluck.com/ELRY9677.
Concluding Thoughts
There’s no secret to the problems of our modern world. Nor are there secrets concerning the solutions—they abound. We’re looking forward to making 2026 the midcoast’s year of wide boundary solutions to climate disruption and environmental degradation.
And we recognize that you, dedicated readers, are the most important solution. Thank you for caring about our planetary and cultural health. Together we can—and will—work toward a better, sustainable midcoast.
Happy new year.