Maine's largest electric utility has a new CEO. Doug Herling took over operations of Central Maine Power Company Jan. 1, a day after the utility's long-time leader Sara Burns stepped down.
A Maine native, Herling is a Maine Maritime Academy graduate. He began at CMP in 1985 as an equipment operator at the Cousins Island generation plant.
Herling rose through the ranks, most recently overseeing electric operations for parent-company Avangrid for 2.2 million customers in Maine, New York and Connecticut.
Herling says although solar power advocates often criticize the company, he supports build-out of the renewable energy technology in Maine.
"I think everyone should put solar panels on their roof if that's what they want to do," he says.
From his interview with Maine Public:
“CMP is owned by Avangrid who is a major owner of Iberdrola, the largest wind producer in the world. we are not against solar, we are not against wind, we are not against renewables. Most recently there was an issue out there regarding our net energy metering and what we were interested in is the impact, the financial impact on customers. But as far as us being negative about people putting solar panels on their roof, I think everyone should put solar panels on their roof if that's what they want to do. It doesn't impact our company and we're not against that at all.”
Thursday CMP will provide the state with documentation about its response to widespread outages experienced by customers during the October windstorm.