Energy Confusion in Maryland

Marylanders have a lot to be proud of when it comes to setting a course for a clean energy future, but a lack of strong direction from the top could put a major road block in our way. The Governor and the Public Service Commission (PSC) have benefitted from a strong desire of Marylanders to change our energy path. They have been given unprecedented tools to change our energy picture. Yet, there is still a danger that they will not get it right. Here are some examples from the trenches of energy policy in Maryland:

Wasted Money and Effort. I was proud to be one of the main guys who passed a bill that forced then-Governor Ehrlich, against his will, to have Maryland join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a group of states from Maine to Maryland that are committed to reducing greenhouse gases from power plants. Polluters have to pay the state to get allowances to emit carbon. The state is awash in cash from this. The idea was for the state to then use this money to promote things that will reduce pollution such as clean energy and energy efficiency. Instead, the Governor has taken a huge chunk of the money and given it to ratepayers in the form of a credit on their electric bill. So, each ratepayer gets a couple of dollars a month back from the state and the Governor will claim he "lowered electric rates." This may make for great politics, but it is about the stupidest idea I've ever seen if you are trying to lower carbon emissions. In fact, it will have the opposite effect. It's like with gas prices, the lower the price, the more energy people consume. Right now, most of our energy comes from fossil fuels, so that means more carbon emissions.

Solar RECs

Legislators passed one of the most progressive policies in the nation to promote solar energy by requiring utilities and energy providers to derive a certain percentage of their power from solar energy. The law requires these entities to buy Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) from anybody in Maryland with solar panels on their roofs. In essence, it's a way for consumers to get the utilities to pay down the cost of installing solar energy. It's a great program, except for the way the PSC is implementing it. In the age of the Internet, they require homeowners to fill out a paper application and make 14 copies to mail in. Once your application is in, it could take up to six weeks to process and get approval. In one case, the PSC found a couple of sentences from old Maryland code to actually deny SRECs to a Marylander, even though the person followed the proper procedure (at that time) when he put in his solar system. There's no reason the PSC shouldn't have a one click system on a web page to register SRECs.

The Solar Grant.

Did you know you can get a grant from the state of Maryland for installing solar energy? Most people don't. But even if you do, you currently have no idea exactly how much of a grant you can get, or when you can expect to actually see the money. The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has a wait list of several hundred, and there's no telling when/if those people will get their money. How hard is it for the Governor to set a dedicated amount of money to solar grants for the next five years and provide transparency and certainty in the application process?

Gifts to Utilities

The Governor has charged the utilities with reducing energy use (lowering rates will have the exact opposite effect!). The PSC is finalizing the programs with each utility. The general framework is that the utilities get to charge ratepayers and use the money to fund programs to reduce energy use. So now you have a situation where the utilities claim to be "green" because they are funding these programs, while not exactly promoting the fact that they are using ratepayer money to do so. And in the BGE territory, BGE is proposing to do "quicky" energy checks on households (at ratepayer expense) while keeping out the growing small business-heavy energy efficiency industry in Maryland. There are great local businesses that do real energy audits (ecobeco, for example), but the PSC could put them out of business by allowing BGE to do faux-audits at little to no direct cost (again, thanks to the ratepayers). How can a small business that does real energy audits, which lead to real energy savings compete with this? A better approach would be to use ratepayer money to significantly lower the cost of real energy audits and to make that available to all Maryland energy auditors (not the utilities only).

Summary

There are many great programs in Maryland to get us on a path towards a greener future, but there appears to be no leadership providing a unified message and direction. One policy contradicts another. Information is not shared widely. Small businesses get shut out to the benefit of the established utilities. The consumer is left confused and unsure what he/she can actually get. Meanwhile, politically popular items that actually increase carbon emissions and discourage renewable energy are getting major financial backing. These problems are not insurmountable, but we need real leadership from Annapolis to solve the issues. Right now, that's sorely lacking.