Maryland’s sweeping new energy legislation is a mixed bag for climate

Maryland just passed a raft of energy legislation designed to curb rising utility bills and boost in-state power generation. The reaction from climate advocates was mixed.

On the one hand, advocates lauded steps to limit gas infrastructure investments, streamline the community solar build-out, install more battery storage, and remove renewable-energy subsidies for trash incinerators.

But they’re also wary of recently passed legislation that expedites new gas and nuclear power plants. Environmental groups had pushed back on those measures, arguing the energy sources could raise costs for consumers and run counter to the state’s ambitious climate goals.

The policies accomplished ​“some really good things for lowering bills and protecting ratepayers, but we’re going to have to watch the implementation very closely to ensure that this keeps us in line with climate goals,” said Brittany Baker, Maryland director at the nonprofit Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

The three energy bills passed Monday are now headed to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s desk for signing. The largest is the Next Generation Energy Act, which cobbled together provisions from various bills introduced throughout the legislative session — many of which take steps to reduce carbon emissions and lower residential energy bills, clean energy advocates said.

For one, the bill sets up a process for the state to install up to 1.75 gigawatts of battery storage and disqualifies waste-to-energy plants from receiving subsidies through the state’s renewable portfolio standard. A separate bill will accelerate community solar development and limit the ability of local governments to block certain solar projects.

Lawmakers also took historic action to rein in utility rate hikes and protect ratepayers. Last year, a report by the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel found that growing gas and electric bills were largely driven by multiyear rate hikes and a 2013 state law that allows gas utilities to recoup pipeline-replacement costs up front through a monthly surcharge on bills. That law ​“created a financial incentive to replace gas lines,” said Susan Stevens Miller, senior attorney at the nonprofit Earthjustice. ​“Sadly, it created too much of an incentive,” causing utilities to replace pipelines unnecessarily to earn the guaranteed return on their investment.

The Next Generation Energy Act takes aim at both issues by requiring gas companies to demonstrate ​“customer benefits” and cost-effectiveness when spending on pipelines under the 2013 law, and setting stricter standards for utility regulators to approve multiyear rate plans.

The legislation also prohibits utilities from charging customers for membership dues to trade associations that engage in lobbying, like the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Institute, and for private jets. Maryland joins a growing wave of states that have introduced laws to prevent utilities from recovering lobbying costs and luxury expenses from customers.

Overall, these protections ​“will save Marylanders hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Emily Scarr, senior advisor at the Maryland Public Interest Research Group, in a statement.

The bill further requires utilities to create standardized rates and contracts with data centers, to ensure they pay their fair share and don’t pass on higher energy costs to residents. It also authorized an estimated $80 one-time electricity refund for all residential customers to be sent out over the next year.

Despite progress in some areas, Maryland’s energy policy takes ​“a giant step backwards” by fast-tracking new gas power plants, said Stevens Miller. The legislation sets up an expedited process for up to 10 new fossil-gas plants, defined as ​“dispatchable energy generation.”

The provision faced backlash from clean energy and environmental justice groups in earlier forms of the bill and was later amended to require any expedited gas plants to be capable of converting to hydrogen or ​“zero-emissions” biofuels. Legislators also amended the bill to strengthen community-input and permitting processes for such projects.

The amendments did little to change the bill’s ultimate impact, Stevens Miller said. ​“The end result is that someone will want to build a gas-fired power plant, and they’ll use this fast-track process essentially to try to get permission to build that gas-fired power plant in Maryland.”

In 2022, Maryland committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 60% below 2006 levels by 2031 and achieving net-zero economy-wide emissions by 2045. Adding new gas power plants, which release greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollutants, would stifle any progress toward those targets, climate advocates argue.

Stevens Miller and other advocates have also raised concerns about portions in the bill to procure nuclear energy and invest in new advanced nuclear reactors, which they say would ultimately raise electricity bills and waste valuable time and resources that could be dedicated to encouraging cheaper solar, wind, and other clean energy sources.

Nuclear power is the state’s largest source of electricity, providing just under 40% last year. Fossil gas provided another 38%. Meanwhile, just over 8% of its power came from renewables in 2024.

“We did not make a lot of climate progress this year, honestly,” said Baker of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. While the push for battery storage will help the state remain ​“in line with our climate goals,” this year’s reforms ​“didn’t raise the goals or move us ahead in a very significant way.”

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