A recent article about the decline of youth hockey participation in Maine raised important concerns, but also overlooked key dynamics and solutions that could help the sport thrive (“Maine youth ice hockey is losing players. No one is sure how to stop it,” Jan. 10).

As the president of Midcoast Youth Hockey – Junior Polar Bears, I see a very different picture in our region. Our program experienced 146% growth last season and is approaching another 25% growth this season. These numbers paint a clear picture. The issue is not a lack of interest in hockey — it’s a lack of available ice time and modern facilities to meet growing demand.

Youth hockey programs across Maine are thriving when they have the resources and ice time to do so. The challenge isn’t that kids aren’t interested in hockey or that families can’t afford the sport — it’s that many families are forced to make difficult decisions because ice time is scarce and facilities are outdated.

In our region, competition for ice time is fierce. Every single arena is operating at or near capacity, juggling youth hockey, high school teams, clinics, camps and college programs. When rinks close or fail to modernize, the ripple effect forces players and families to drive 30 to 60 minutes — often in the early morning or late at night — to find practice and game slots. This is not sustainable. As I always say, “The only thing that could negatively impact demand for ice time is a lack of ice time.”

The article’s focus on high school hockey teams consolidating misses a larger reality. Many players are shifting to club hockey because it offers more ice time, better coaching and higher levels of competition. This is not about cost. Families are investing more in hockey because it brings their kids joy and growth opportunities. What’s needed is a solution to make hockey accessible and sustainable for all levels of play — not just those who can afford to travel to other regions.

The closing of several rinks over the past decade, while concerning, doesn’t signal a lack of interest in hockey. It highlights the need for better-designed facilities that can meet demand and operate sustainably. Single-sheet rinks are no longer viable — they lack the capacity to host tournaments or generate the revenue needed for long-term operations.

A dual-surface facility, strategically located in Brunswick, would be a game-changer for the Midcoast region. It would not only meet the growing demand for ice time but also provide an economic boost to the community. Dual-surface facilities have the capacity to host regional tournaments, clinics and recreational leagues, generating $1.4 million to $2.2 million annually in economic activity. This model has been proven successful in other parts of the country, where public-private partnerships have enabled towns to build and operate financially viable arenas.

A new dual-surface facility in Brunswick wouldn’t just serve youth hockey. It would also support middle and high school teams, adult recreation leagues, figure skating and adaptive skating programs. Programs like adaptive skating, especially for veterans with disabilities, honor Brunswick’s military heritage while making skating more inclusive.

This type of investment solves two problems at once. It ensures local players have access to sufficient ice time, reducing the need for long drives, and it helps prevent the consolidation of high school teams by supporting feeder programs. The numbers don’t lie — when kids have the chance to play, participation grows.

We need to stop thinking about hockey as a sport in decline and start addressing the real barriers to growth: limited ice time and outdated facilities. Rather than pulling back on investment in rinks, we need to move forward with smarter, community-driven solutions. A dual-surface arena in Brunswick is one such solution, and it’s time for government and business leaders to work together to make it happen.

The article noted a lack of a “plan to build hockey back up.” Here’s the plan: Build the infrastructure, and the players will come. Hockey isn’t fading — it’s waiting for the ice.

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Maine energy officials on Friday offered a sober assessment of the state’s reliance on fossil fuels as they released a plan touting advances in electric heat pumps and electric vehicles and outlined ambitious goals for offshore wind, clean energy jobs and other features of a zero-carbon environment.

More than a year in the making, the Maine Energy Plan released by the Governor’s Energy Office boasted of the state’s “nation-leading adoption” of heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, helping to reduce the state’s dependence on heating oil, a goal set in state law in 2011. A technical report in the energy plan demonstrates that Maine’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2040 is “achievable, beneficial and results in reduced energy costs across the economy,” it said.

More than 17,500 all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or 1.5% of the state’s 1.2 million registered light-duty vehicles, are traveling Maine roads, the most ever, the Governor’s Energy Office said. The state’s network of charging stations has expanded to more than 1,000 ports for public use.

“While the electrification shift will increase Maine’s overall electricity use over time, total energy costs will decrease as Maine people spend significantly less on costly fossil fuels and swap traditional combustion technologies for more efficient electric options,” the report said.

The Governor’s Energy Office spent $500,000 for the analysis and outreach to various groups that participated in meetings organized by a consulting group, said a spokeswoman for the state agency. Funding was from a 2019 agreement related to the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project.  

Maine remains the most dependent on home heating fuel in the U.S., the Governor’s Energy Office said, and more than half of electricity produced in New England is generated using natural gas. Maine spends more than $4.5 billion on imported fossil fuels each year, including gasoline and heating oil, with combustion contributing to climate change that’s causing more frequent and severe extreme storms, the report said. Last year was the warmest on record, it said.

Several winter storms last year and in 2023 caused more than $90 million in damage to public infrastructure and received federal disaster declarations, the report said.

Petroleum accounted for nearly 50% of energy consumed in the state in 2021, with electricity at 22.5%, wood at 16.3% and natural gas at nearly 11%, according to the state.

Maine has made progress reducing the share of households that rely on fuel oil for home heating, to 53% in 2023 from 70% in 2010. In contrast, electricity to heat homes has climbed to 13% of households from 5% in the same period.

The state still has some distance to cover to reach other goals. For example, the state has set a goal of 275,000 heat pumps installed by 2027.

The report said 143,857 heat pumps were installed between 2019 and 2024, increasing each year, according to Efficiency Maine Trust. And 54,405 heat pump water heaters were installed in the same six years.

Officials also have set a target of 30,000 clean energy jobs by 2030. Employers would have to double the existing number in less than eight years: A study in May 2024 said Maine’s “clean energy economy” accounted for 15,000 jobs at the end of 2022.

The report cites targets for more energy storage and distributed generation, which is power produced close to consumers such as rooftop solar power, fuel cells or small wind turbines.

Among the more ambitious targets that Maine has set for itself is to generate 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2040, a big goal in the next 15 years for an industry that is only now beginning to take shape.

Two energy companies in October committed nearly $22 million in an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of  Maine. The state’s offshore wind research project, also in the Gulf of Maine, is the subject of negotiations over costs among state regulators, the project’s developers and the Maine public advocate.

In addition, the federal government has turned down Maine’s application for $456 million to build an offshore wind port at Sears Island, complicating the state’s work as it looks to enter the offshore wind industry.

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