The Maine Senate voted 19-15 Tuesday to confirm Heather Sanborn as the public advocate to represent utility ratepayers before state and federal regulators.

The Portland brewery owner, attorney and former state lawmaker will succeed William Harwood, who’s set to retire Friday.

Sanborn was endorsed on a 7-5 vote by the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee this month. She overcame resistance by Sen. Nicole Grohoski, D-Hancock, who criticized her for not committing to refuse future work for a utility, citing a “revolving door” between government and industry.

Heather Sanborn. Contributed photo

Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-Eliot, co-chair of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, said Sanborn will come to the job with an “open mind.”

“Too often we have people coming out of the utility industry who have preconceived notions about what needs to be done in the field of energy,” Lawrence said during Senate debate. “Heather comes in with an open mind and an incredible sense of ethics, and she’ll be an advocate for low-income consumers of electricity in the state of Maine.”

But Sen. Matthew Harrington, R-York, opposed Sanborn’s nomination, saying: “I do not think that we have the most qualified, most ambitious nominee for this office before us today.”

Harrington criticized Sanborn for previously voting in favor of a solar and wind power subsidy program that’s been criticized as too generous to developers at the expense of ratepayers. Harwood said in 2023 that the so-called net energy billing program would cost ratepayers about $220 million annually for the next 20 years, or about $4 billion total.

“She voted for a policy that is costing Maine ratepayers $220 million a year,” Harrington said. “Now, I’ll understand that there are many Republicans who voted for that as well, but at least those Republicans will acknowledge that was a mistake. That is not what we have before us today.”

The Public Utilities Commission is looking into how much of a power bill should be used to incentivize renewable energy projects.

However, Sanborn, director of business operations at Rising Tide Brewing Co. — the recently sold Portland craft brewery she co-founded with her husband, Nathan — won praise from a different Republican.

“It’s refreshing, in my view, to have nominated for this office someone who is not just a lawyer,” said Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford.

“Heather Sanborn has real experience building and operating a business here in Maine,” he added.

Bennett said he observed Sanborn’s “forceful and effective advocacy, indeed having been bested by her many times in debate on the floor of this body.”

Her relatively narrow confirmation contrasts with Harwood’s unanimous Senate confirmation and endorsement in the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee in 2022. Harwood, a utility and energy lawyer, represented utility customers, public utilities, renewable energy companies, technology companies, paper mills and colleges and universities before state and federal regulators.