BANGOR — Forbes was right — Maine is the least business-friendly state in the country, Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday.

“Frankly, I agree with them. I truly agree with them,” LePage said while delivering the keynote speech at a Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

If Puerto Rico were incorporated as the nation’s 51st state next year, Maine might end up in dead last again, LePage said, drawing chuckles from the audience.

Forbes Magazine last week named Maine the worst state for business for the third year in a row. The magazine’s annual ranking put Utah at the top.

“And that’s after two years of struggling to make some changes to make Maine a more business-friendly state, so it just goes to show how much work we have to do,” LePage said.

The governor outlined what he believed to be the causes behind Maine’s dismal business climate, which largely matched Forbes’ reasons for why Maine was at the bottom of the barrel.

LePage echoed Forbes, citing Maine’s high taxes, high energy costs and an aging population.

The governor stressed the importance of hydroelectric power and is looking to eliminate the 100-megawatt restriction placed on hydropower production in the state, as well as purchasing cheap energy from the only large-scale hydropower producer in the region, Canada’s Hydro Quebec.

He also reiterated the state’s commitment to repay its debts, especially to Maine’s hospitals, which are still owed $484 million.

He criticized the structure of Maine’s education system, citing the statistic that there are 127 school superintendents for 180,000 students in the state. He compared that ratio to Florida’s, which has 57 superintendents for 2.7 million students. He said the structure was hurting students and teachers, and criticized superintendents who “double-dip” by accepting salaries on top of their pensions when they return to work after retirement.

He also called Maine “the most generous welfare state in the country.”

“That’s why we’re broke,” he said.