By Lauren McCauley | Editor
“If any federal armed officer were interfering with a citizen’s right to vote on Election Day, we would take every available legal action to disrupt and prosecute that because that is criminal and prohibited.” - Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, on concerns federal agents will be deployed to polls during the November election.
A community solar farm in coastal Maine. After a law last year made such projects ineligible for net energy billing, the Department of Energy Resources has published a draft of its proposed successor program. (Photo by William Byers/U.S. Department of Energy)
ENERGY
By Kaitlyn Budion
The Maine Department of Energy Resources is looking to launch a new regulatory framework for large scale renewable generators across the state, floating a draft proposal for projects recently cut out of the state’s clean energy credit program.
ELECTION 2026
By Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom
President Donald Trump said earlier this year he’d “do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections” this fall, declining to rule out sending the National Guard or federal law enforcement officers to polling locations throughout the country.
COMMENTARY
By Robert Forrant
As a labor studies scholar, I believe weariness and wariness will accompany blue-collar voters to the polls in November. As such, the candidates who have practical ideas for turning the economy around and exhibit empathy for Americans worried about how to pay their bills could receive the bulk of the union vote.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Thanks for reading Top of the Morning. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.