Latest news with #ClimateSolutionsNowActof2022
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers pass new bill to revolutionize access to low-cost energy: 'This will allow our communities to save money'
A newly passed bill in New Mexico is set to make it easier — and more affordable — for communities to access reliable, clean energy. The state House of Representatives recently approved House Bill 128, a bipartisan measure aimed at supporting solar energy projects in rural and tribal areas. The bill would establish the Local Solar Access Fund, with $20 million proposed in the 2025 state budget to help build solar and battery systems on key public buildings like fire stations, community centers, and water utilities, according to the Los Alamos Reporter. If signed into law, the bill would open the door to grant funding for school districts, counties, and tribal governments, helping cut utility costs while strengthening energy resilience by installing solar panels. The program is designed to prioritize communities that have been historically left out of clean energy upgrades, especially those on tribal lands or facing economic disadvantages. Beyond cutting energy costs and improving access, programs like this also reduce heat-trapping pollution, one of the key drivers of our planet's overheating, by replacing dirty energy sources with clean, locally generated power. New Mexico's approach mirrors a growing national push to ensure that the clean energy transition benefits everyone. Illinois recently approved a new grid modernization plan to support solar panels and battery storage in homes, while Maryland's Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 helps schools achieve similar savings and energy independence through solar. This kind of investment echoes similar efforts nationwide to help everyday people — not just large companies — benefit from the clean energy shift. These state efforts often work in tandem with national initiatives. The Inflation Reduction Act, for example, offers tax credits for solar panels and battery storage systems that help both households and communities lower their bills and boost climate resilience. Do you think your house could withstand a hurricane? No way Maybe a weak one I'm not sure It definitely could Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The Environmental Protection Agency has also launched the Solar for All program to help low-income households across the country access clean, reliable energy. "This will allow our communities to save money, reduce their carbon footprint, and equip community centers, water utilities, and fire stations with resilient and stable sources of power," said House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski, one of the bill's sponsors, in the press release. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Maryland's building emissions rules got ‘trimmed' this session
Two air source heat pumps installed on the exterior of a house. ( photo by Nimur.) Environmentalists who feared an extensive rollback of one of the state's signature climate programs, instead managed to escape this year's legislative session with what they say are just revisions to the Building Energy Performance Standards. The BEPS program, adopted as part of the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, requires large buildings in the state to electrify over time, and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, or pay fees. This year, lawmakers exempted hospitals from the rules, amid other changes, but largely left the program intact to the relief of environmentalists. 'BEPS was trimmed, not cut down,' said Jamie DeMarco, a lobbyist for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. CCAN initially supported House Bill 49, which would have given buildings some more flexibility, including with a waiver program for specific cases. The Maryland Department of the Environment, which enforces building emissions rules, proposed the bill. But midway through the legislative session, lawmakers began discussing broader modifications to the rules, including exempting residential buildings and hospitals, said Brittany Baker, CCAN's Maryland director. 'Once we were having these BEPS conversations, legislators had all of this angst … about BEPS, that now they wanted to attach all of these weakening amendments to the bill,' Baker said. Moore issues executive order that could delay EV sales penalties That came about the same time that a bill rolling back Maryland's electric vehicles program was advancing in the legislature. Ultimately, that bill failed, but not before Gov. Wes Moore issued a similar executive order, allowing his administration to pause penalties for the first two years of the EV program, which requires manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of electric cars in Maryland. 'This legislative session was a tough, tough few months,' read an online post from CCAN. 'However, our advocacy changed the trajectory of the session in a tangible way.' Residential buildings don't appear in the passed bill, which is on the governor's desk. But hospitals were exempted, and emissions associated with steam sterilization and back-up generators at medical facilities, nursing homes and laboratories are also exempt under the bill. 'We think it was unnecessary. No other BEPS in the country exempts hospitals,' DeMarco said. 'But that's what happened.' Prior to this year's bill, historic buildings, elementary and secondary schools, manufacturing buildings, agricultural buildings and federal buildings could all apply to be exempted from BEPS. In testimony on the original bill, the Maryland Hospital Association pushed for lawmakers to exclude hospitals, arguing that they are held to unique HVAC standards, and intensive care units, emergency rooms and operating rooms need 'continuous and guaranteed access to power.' 'While hospitals support efforts to combat climate change, the unique nature of hospitals — and the potentially deadly consequences of power failure on patient safety — requires special consideration for an exemption,' wrote Natasha Mehu, vice president of government affairs and policy at MHA. This year's bill also clarified the relationship between the state and a similar building emissions program established in Montgomery County, in a way DeMarco called 'fair and reasonable': It lets MDE certify county-level programs and waive the state rules for buildings in counties that have approved regulations. Tom Ballentine, vice president for policy and government relations for Maryland NAIOP, a commercial real estate association, said the change reconciles 'overlapping requirements at the state and local level' and lets building owners focus on Montgomery's rules, which include earlier deadlines. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Buildings — with fossil-fuel burning furnaces, water heaters and stoves — contributed 16% of Maryland's greenhouse gas emissions as of 2020. Under state law, Maryland's overall emissions must be net-zero by 2045. In addition to reducing emissions, Maryland's BEPS program requires large buildings (over 35,000 square feet) to reduce their 'energy use intensity,' which measures annual energy use per square foot. The exact reductions haven't been set yet, after the General Assembly required MDE last year to take in energy use data from buildings first. Ballentine said that the energy use regulations represent an 'expansion of the policy scope that needs some consideration,' because it goes beyond greenhouse gas emissions. 'The way that energy efficiency has been managed in the past is through building and energy codes that are developed through a process that puts a high value on technical feasibility and cost effectiveness,' Ballentine said. 'MDE doesn't have that same mandate.' The bill exempted buildings with permanent 'sensitive compartmented information facilities,' or SCIFs, owned by certain federal agencies, from the energy use requirements. These facilities are essentially secure rooms where classified information is discussed, protected by security technology. DeMarco said he would have preferred to see SCIFs themselves exempted from the rules, rather than any building that contains a SCIF. 'The fear is that any data center, if it wants to be exempted from energy-use intensity, could just find a SCIF to be contained in it. But most data centers right now do not have SCIFs,' DeMarco said. Lawmakers approve energy reform bills aimed at cutting rates, boosting in-state generation Meanwhile, BEPS waivers focused on economic feasibility were stricken from the bill. The energy use regulations are a 'co-equal pillar' of the BEPS rules, DeMarco said, because they help prevent building owners from purchasing cheaper yet more inefficient electric heating systems, forcing tenants to deal with high bills. As originally introduced, this year's bill, which came from MDE, would have set up alternative compliance payments for the energy use segments — instead of only the greenhouse gas emissions. But that language was scrapped from the bill. Ballentine said the fees were set far too high. Using data from Montgomery County, his association estimated that the worst performing condominium building might have paid up to $600,000 per year. 'I was very surprised, actually, that in a session where the BGE bill impacts of increased energy costs and power surcharges were such an item of discussion, the energy intensity fee didn't get more attention,' Ballentine said. 'Because it is big for some buildings. It's a substantial number. With MDE's backing, the fees may resurface in the legislature. Getting the balance right is critical, DeMarco said. The fees must be high enough to encourage building owners to make the building renovations, but low enough that they don't bankrupt building owners who cannot comply. 'It essentially caps how much any building will ever have to pay, and knowing that there's an upper bound of how much you would ever have to pay provides a lot of beneficial certainty,' DeMarco said.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maryland Freedom Caucus calls for rollbacks on green energy policy: ‘It isn't working'
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Freedom Caucus railed against the cost of previously passed green energy legislation Thursday afternoon and called for repeals as utility bills for ratepayers continue to climb. 'The reckless green agenda sounds like a great idea, except that it isn't working,' Del. Mark Fisher, a Calvert County Republican, said at an Annapolis press conference. 'The green agenda won't provide the people of Maryland enough power to generate our economy.' U.S. Rep. Andy Harris and the Maryland House Freedom Caucus are demanding that Gov. Wes Moore and the Democratic majority legislature roll back climate change and energy efficiency policy, which they say will 'immediately' lower utility bills. Del. Kathy Szeliga, a representative of Baltimore County, said that she has heard from constituents who are forced to choose between keeping their lights on or paying for food because their bills are so high. 'What we're hearing from the other side are some puffy, long-term solutions,' Szeliga said. 'We have yet to hear one thing that will lower residents' electric bills immediately. We have a solution for that.' Del. Brian Chisholm of Anne Arundel County is sponsoring House Bill 1451, which would alter provisions of the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 to read 'to the extent economically practicable.' 'In layman's terms, it means if it's going to bankrupt you, you don't have to do it,' he said. The Climate Solutions Now Act requires the state to reduce its emissions by 60% below 2006 levels by 2031 and to make the state carbon neutral by 2045. It also requires owners of large buildings to take steps to significantly reduce or offset the use of fossil fuels by 2030. Republicans have criticized the policy, saying their constituents will shoulder most of the cost of upgrading energy systems. Though the House Freedom Caucus represents just a sliver of the 39 Republicans elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, members of the minority party in both chambers have decried the Democratic desire to move away from coal and oil. 'We're not saying solar and wind are bad,' Fisher said. 'We're saying that they don't provide sufficient power, and we shouldn't be using taxpayer money for that purpose.' Chisholm's bill would also repeal the EmPOWER Maryland Program, a utility-customer-funded program established by the legislature in 2008 to increase energy efficiency and lower utility costs by using less energy. Funded by a surcharge on ratepayer energy bills, EmPOWER provides appliance rebates, home weatherization, combined heat and power programs and other energy efficiency measures administered through Maryland's largest utility companies and the state Department of Housing and Community Development. To lower the strain on Marylanders' wallets, the General Assembly passed legislation last year prohibiting utility companies from deferring program costs that eventually cause their customers to pay interest. Chisholm called the EmPOWER Program a 'slush fund.' St. Mary's County representative Del. Matt Morgan estimated that its repeal could reduce utility bills for average ratepayers by around $40 monthly. Emily Scarr, a senior advisor at the Baltimore-based public interest nonprofit Maryland PIRG, said that Republican attacks on EmPOWER are 'misguided at best.' 'The key factors driving up people's heating bills this winter are overspending by gas utilities on new infrastructure and volatile gas prices, not the state's successful energy efficiency program,' she said. According to Maryland PIRG, the EmPOWER program reduced electrical use by 15% by 2015 and saved ratepayers $4 billion by 2024. In their work with Harris, the small cohort of conservatives has also requested that the federal government intervene. Earlier this week, the Maryland Freedom Caucus sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, asking him to prevent the closure of two Maryland power plants — one coal-burning and the other fueled by oil. 'The consequences of these closures cannot be overstated,' they wrote. 'Maryland residents are already struggling under high energy costs, and further reductions in in-state generation will push electricity prices even higher.' For his part, Harris said that the U.S. House majority party is planning to roll back significant portions of the Green New Deal in the budget resolution it intends to present ahead of the March 14 deadline to prevent a government shutdown. In their response to utility rate hikes and Maryland's reliance on energy from other states, General Assembly Democrats are sponsoring a package of comprehensive green energy bills. Maryland is on an energy grid run by PJM, which it shares with 12 other states and Washington, D.C. PJM recently predicted that the region could see an energy capacity shortage as early as June 2026. Currently, 40% of Maryland's electricity is generated by out-of-state sources. The bills, sponsored by Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and other legislative leadership members, seek to reduce the need to build additional transmission lines and allow the state to determine which sources — like natural gas, nuclear, solar or other generation — its energy comes from. Climate advocates are frustrated that the bills leave the door open for the potential of new gas power plants in Maryland. 'Maryland ratepayers should not be on the hook to subsidize gas plants that will have a negative impact on their health and worsen our vulnerability to the climate crisis,' Carlo Sanchez, the chair of the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement Wednesday. 'Gas plants take years to build, and therefore wouldn't provide any ratepayer relief anytime soon.' Ferguson said Tuesday that he is 'frustrated' that the state is in a place where that has to be an option but sees it as a bridge to cleaner sources. 'I've really dug into the energy bill crisis that we are now facing,' he said. 'It's become clear to me that the demand is going to continue to increase and supply is not keeping up for energy that's here. If we could do it fully renewable — if we could do it just through batteries — I would be all for it.' --------
