Staff Writer 

Cape Elizabeth resident Phil Coupe is making it his job to ensure his children grow up in a world less dependant on fossil fuels. 

Literally.

“I want them where the air is clear, the world is safer and we don’t have 10 behemoth sized oil tankers rolling into Portland harbor every day,” he said. “We’re just one small wrong turn from an environmental disaster, is that what Maine is all about? I want to take [the tankers] out of business – cease delivery.”

For the past three years, Coupe, 41, has helped America kick its fossil fuel addiction one house at a time as a managing partner for Portland’s ReVision Energy, the largest distributor and installer of solar water heaters and electrical systems in the state. Coupe is also the president of Smart Energy Now, a nonprofit organization that aims to integrate renewable energy systems into school curriculum.

“We think it’s time people reevaluate their position on fossil fuel energy,” Coupe said. “Somehow in the next 30 years we have to transfer our way of thinking. When I hear of people ‘going green,’ I think people’s consciences have risen a lot but we’re all still driving gasoline powered cars. Instead of bike paths we need to be thinking of an entire bike freeway. People thinking about it is important but we need way more action.”

Last month, the the Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine, an association of businesses that supports technology-based companies such as National and Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland, appointed Coupe to their board of directors based on his work with ReVision Energy and Smart Energy Now. The group offers a variety of services for members, including marketing and financial support and analytical services.

“I just thought ‘What’s the best use of my time to find an antidote to the problem,’ and this was it,” he said.

Replacing oil and electric utilities with solar-powered alternatives isn’t the first time Coupe has devoted himself to an “antidote.” After graduating from Boston College with a communications degree in the early 1990s, Coupe worked as a reporter for a small community newspaper in Washington, D. C. It took 17 months before Coupe found one story he just couldn’t walk away from. 

“I interviewed this guy who was in the bottled water business. Tap water in D.C. is pretty much undrinkable, so I thought ‘This has really got some legs,’ and offered to help him out. It was just before I was going to starve to death too,” he said with a chuckle.

What Coupe found particularly intriguing about the bottled water business was the potential to purify municipal water, which is much cheaper than spring water. He said he helped run the DrinkMore Water company, which was rated in the top 500 fastest growing businesses in the country, for the next 10 years. 

“We started three other related companies that were all part of the mix too,” he said.

Despite the success Coupe experienced in the bottled water industry and the arrival of his first daughter, Coupe said life in the Washington D.C. metro area wasn’t ever going to feel quite like home. 

“I was born and raised in Scarborough,” he said. “I really wanted to get back home to Maine.”

An executive director position at The Salt Water Institute in Kennebunk was enough to convince Coupe and his wife to relocate to Maine and settle in Cape Elizabeth with their daughter – who was joined by twins soon after the move – but Coupe said the position left him wondering what else he could do to help ensure his children’s fossil-free future.

“I didn’t get a whole lot of traction there, but it got me back to Maine,” he said.

Coupe said a search for the largest solar-powered utility distributor in the state turned him toward Energyworks, a company based in Liberty. After pairing with a business partner who was also interested in solar power, Coupe said the company agreed to extend services to Portland. 

“They’re all the way up by Bethel, and we were like ‘Hello, all the people are in Portland,’” Coupe said. “We started down here with their help but kept the two companies separated just to shelter them in case it didn’t go so well.”

It took approximately a year and a half for Coupe’s new Portland-based venture to surpass its parent company. Not long after, the two decided to officially merge – partially inspired by a lawsuit from a $300 million solar company based out of Baltimore, Md., with the same company name – forming ReVision Energy, LLC.

Coupe has worked to convert businesses and residential homes – including his own – to solar power and solar heated water ever since. On average, he said installing a solar hot water heater will cost around $8,000 and solar power can cost up to $24,000 depending on the age and location of the building. Coupe said estimates do not include a 30 percent government tax credit, adding that most solar utilities pay for themselves in approximately 20 years.

“We can put solar power into pretty much any existing structure,” he said. “In the summertime when the sun is out you’ll actually see your power meter rolling backwards.”

Coupe said most clients are more concerned about reducing their carbon footprint than saving on fuel bills, a sentiment he agrees with. 

“We take reducing the use of fossil fuels as serious as a heart attack,” he said. “It’s not about getting rich.”

When it comes to creating a carbon-free atmosphere for his children, Coupe said he believes the most effective way to encourage alternative energy is in the private sector. Politics often get in the way of change, especially when it comes to fuel usage, he said. 

“It’s a culture of convenience. We have subsidized the fossil fuel industry for the last 50 years, it’s no wonder it dominates the society,” he said. “Maine’s government is trying to get behind solar and the [Maine Oil Dealers Association] is trying to be the best they can, but they’re as dirty as can be. In a capitalist society, businesses have more power than the government in being able to get things done.”

Despite ReVision Energy’s success during the past few years, Coupe said he’s still discouraged that Maine has the highest number of homes that use oil for heat out of any state in New England – a statistic he correlates to the future health of his children.

“I am gravely concerned about what their future looks like,” he said. “What kind of fossil fuel legacy will we leave behind for them?”