The Home Stretch in Maryland

It’s down to the wire in Maryland’s General Assembly for any bills still alive in the closing week of this year’s session. Any bill not passed by Midnight on April 11th is dead for the year. This is the time that a little extra effort can sway those legislators sitting on the fence about a bill. Check out the status of a few key energy bills and then take action by contacting your local legislator (if you live in Maryland, of course!).

HB 1054/SB 861 – Offshore Wind – This bill is the top priority of the Governor’s office as well as a slew of environmental groups, labor unions, and even some businesses. It would bring offshore wind to Maryland, reducing our dependence on fossil fuel powered energy sources, bringing green jobs to our state, and reducing the amount of electricity Maryland imports. The Senate has indicated that it will wait for the House to move first on this bill. The House Economic Matters Committee is deliberating the bill now and could vote as early as today (Thursday). The vote will be close and could be decided by one Delegate’s decision to support the bill or not.

The utility (ie. Pepco) reliability bills are still alive. Two of the bills have been killed in committee, but the main bill is making progress and could pass.

HB 391/Sb 692 – passed both houses with amendments. Senator Frosh Amendment rejected.
HB 391/SB 692 – The House version (HB 391, chief sponsor is Montgomery County Delegate Brian Feldman (D-15). Most of the other MoCo legislators are on board with this and it was a O’Malley Administration priority. The bill passed the House and now awaits action in the Senate. The Senate version is sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mac Middleton (D-Charles County). Many MoCo Senators are on board as well. The bill passed the Senate, though a great Amendment to not allow rate increases to pay for downed wires, by Sen. Brian Frosh (D-MoCo) failed. This bill would require Pepco and the other utilities to achieve certain minimum performance standards or face serious penalties from the Public Service Commission. The bill would strive to put Pepco and the other utilities at the top of the class, rather than the bottom, nationally. The next step is for each chamber to pass the other chamber’s version, or alternatively go to conference and agree to compromise on any differences.

The other utility reliability bills were killed in committee.

HB 1278 – which would have prevented Pepco and others from charging customers for time when the power is out died in committee, but did get favorable votes from MoCo Delegates – Hucker, Kramer, Barkley, Feldman, and by Committee Vice Chair, David Rudolph.

HB 1171/SB 749 – The other utility reliability bill died in the Senate Finance Committee, receiving no favorable votes from any Senator.
Another bill that died recently is HB 1123/SB 715 – a bill that would have required utilities to enter into long term contracts for Solar RECs. It was supported by the solar industry and the environmental community, but the Senate Finance Committee voted it down.

Finally, a bill that would allow garbage incineration to count as clean energy like wind and solar in Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard is thankfully looking almost dead. The Senate version, SB 690, passed the Senate so quickly, the environmental community didn’t even have a chance to do any outreach to Senators about the bill. But the bill is now stuck in the House, looking like it will go nowhere after the environmental community and certain clean energy businesses let legislators know about the concerns with this piece.