Brattle Experts Analyze Impact of Energy Import Tariffs in Maine
Prepared for the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO)
The Brattle Group was retained by the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) to analyze how tariffs on imported energy would affect Maine residents.
In their analysis, Principal Dr. Dean Murphy, Energy Associate Dr. Noah Rauschkolb, and Senior Energy Analyst Purvaansh Lohiya found that while there are currently no tariffs in place on Canadian energy imports, Maine residents are particularly exposed to potential tariffs on petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil. This is because Maine residents use more petroleum in their homes than residents of other states, and because a much larger share of the petroleum used in Maine is imported (primarily from Canada).
While higher energy costs from tariffs would be primarily driven by increased petroleum prices, natural gas and electricity prices would also contribute. The analysis finds that policies that reduce Maine’s dependence on imported petroleum products would help mitigate energy price volatility for Maine households.
The analysis, “Understanding the Impact of Energy Tariffs in Maine,” can be found below.
