May 7, 2025

How Maine Is Pricing Itself Out of the Future — Energy, Regulation, and the War on Growth, with Matt Jacobson, Director of Sales & Marketing, Summit Natural Gas of Maine

Maine isn’t just losing opportunities. We’re driving them away—with energy policies, regulatory gridlock, and a learned helplessness that’s sinking our economy.

In this episode of Maine For Keeps, Jonathan Bush sits down with Matt Jacobson, Director of Sales & Marketing at Summit Natural Gas of Maine (and former CEO of Maine & Company), to have a brutally honest conversation about:

  • How Maine’s energy costs got so out of control
  • Why we’re importing natural gas from Trinidad instead of Pennsylvania
  • The real math behind solar and wind (and why it’s not adding up)
  • How rigid ideology crushed projects like Dragon Cement — and what it’s costing all of us
  • What “learned helplessness” looks like at the state level—and how we break free
  • Why nuclear and pragmatic energy investments could be Maine’s ticket to a real future
  • And how the American dream shouldn’t require leaving Maine to achieve it

If you’re tired of seeing Maine fall behind while politicians pat themselves on the back, this is the episode you don’t want to miss.

We’re not here to complain—we’re here to rebuild.

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We’re jumpstarting the dialog about the things that hold Maine back, and knocking down barriers so we can thrive.