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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
After rumblings, Maryland referendum campaigns fall short
Jay Falstad, executive director of the Queen Anne's County Conservation Association, holds a statewide referendum petition form. Falstad was among the farmers leading a referendum campaign against the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which focuses on solar farm siting. The effort fell short. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters) Though there were some rumblings, no one turned in petitions to challenge actions of the Maryland General Assembly via referendum this year, state elections officials say. At least two laws, both focused on energy policy, were in the crosshairs this year. One group — which registered itself as the Maryland Environment, Labor and Industry Coalition — planned to challenge the Next Generation Energy Act, and focus its campaign on trash incinerators, which will no longer receive a renewable energy subsidy under the law. Another group, led primarily by Maryland farmers, started collecting signatures to challenge the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which focuses on solar farm siting in the state. But ultimately, neither group submitted signatures before the May 31 deadline, when they needed 20,053. To actually get on the ballot in 2026, groups would have needed to assemble about 60,000 signatures by June 30. The lack of submissions means Maryland will go another year without a statewide referendum on the ballot. The last one was in 2012, when voters petitioned to get same-sex marriage on the ballot, and ultimately the electorate approved it. This year, both groups had pushed for Gov. Wes Moore (D) to veto their bills, but he signed each during his final bill signing session of the year, on May 21. With just 10 days until the deadline, a representative of the MELIC group said a formal signature campaign was unlikely. But the farming community decided to throw the Hail Mary, and collected thousands of signatures in an attempt to hit the cutoff. The solar bill essentially prohibits local governments from establishing zoning rules that preclude large solar fields, and sets uniform statewide standards for solar sites. But farmers are particularly concerned by a provision that caps solar facilities to 5% of 'priority preservation areas,' or agricultural land, in any one county. They argue the ceiling is too high, and could take too much farmland out of production. Many believe that no farmland should be used for solar panels whatsoever. 'While this cap is certainly better than nothing, it still leaves thousands of acres of farmland open to commercial solar development,' wrote Maryland Farm Bureau President Jamie Raley in a recent statement. 'The result of this bill is concerning, but it only strengthens our resolve to keep fighting for Maryland's farmland.' Jay Falstad, a leader of the solar energy petition effort, said that his group amassed just under 20,000 signatures before they ran out of time. They estimated that they would have needed at least 23,000 to meet the state's cutoff, because signatures are frequently tossed out for non-compliance with a strict set of state rules. But Falstad, who is a founder of Farmers Alliance for Rural Maryland, or FARM, said that a State Board of Elections official initially informed him that he'd have until Monday, June 2 — the next business day after the May 31 deadline — to make the submission. Falstad was shellshocked when officials reached out on May 30 to say he'd only have until midnight on the 31st. He's confident he could have reached the cutoff number with a few extra days. 'We would have made the necessary number, had it not been for this accelerated timeline,' said Falstad, who is also the executive director of the Queen Anne's County Conservation Association. 'The momentum was on our side.' Jared DeMarinis, Maryland's state administrator of elections, said that the initial communication, allowing until June 2, was in error. While other state election deadlines, such as business contribution filings, can move to the next business day, the ballot petition filing deadline cannot move, under the state constitution, he said. 'When we found out of a mistake, we made sure that they were aware of it,' DeMarinis said. 'It is in the Maryland constitution, so it's not like it was hidden in any sort of fashion.' Regardless of the outcome, Falstad said he was impressed by the strong response to the petition drive. Organizers received signatures from each Maryland county, he said, although the effort was focused in rural areas on Maryland's Eastern Shore, as well as in Montgomery, Harford and Carroll counties, Falstad said. Falstad himself collected signatures on the Eastern Shore at fairgrounds and ballfields, farm stores and local parks. 'We had people running from their car to the pavilion to sign the petition through rain and thunder,' Falstad said. 'The level of commitment and dedication on the part of people that wanted to sign the petition was inspiring.'
E&E News
22-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Maryland governor signs sprawling energy plan, vetoes climate studies
Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed a sprawling package of energy legislation this week in response to spiking electricity bills, smoothing the way for a new gas-fired power plant and speeding up the permitting process for solar projects. Moore signed both the Next Generation Energy Act and Renewable Energy Certainty Act on Tuesday, days after he outraged climate hawks by vetoing bills to study data center impacts and greenhouse gas costs to the state. Moore cited the state's $3 billion deficit in vetoing the RENEW Act, which called for the greenhouse gas study, and legislation to study the impact of data centers on the state's electricity market. He also vetoed legislation to create a new Strategic Energy Planning Office, saying it would be too costly and duplicative. Advertisement 'Studies can serve a purpose, but their overuse is a drag on the State government,' Moore wrote in his veto message for the RENEW ACT and other studies. 'Many of these reports are never read and simply collect dust on shelves, but nonetheless, executive branch agencies are required to dedicate funding and staff time to each.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Moore signs two energy bills as June rate hikes loom
Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed 181 bills into law Tuesday, including two that one supporter called 'the most substantive energy affordability package that Maryland has seen in several decades.' It came just days before steep rate hikes are set to take effect. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.) Days after vetoing an energy-focused bill backed by General Assembly leadership, Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed two others into law Tuesday. The larger of the two bills, called the Next Generation Energy Act, aims to increase in-state power generation and battery energy storage, while curtailing costs for consumers by limiting how utilities can spend ratepayer dollars. The second bill, the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, creates uniform siting standards for commercial solar farms in Maryland, in some cases overruling local jurisdictions that had sought to restrict the farms with zoning rules. Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said the bills make up 'the most substantive energy affordability package that Maryland has seen in several decades.' But the new measures come less than two weeks before an expected June rate hike hits. Prices for Baltimore Gas and Electric customers are estimated to jump $16 per month, and customers of other utilities could see similar increases, according to a report from the Maryland Office of People's Counsel, which represents ratepayers in the state. The People's Counsel in April asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to intervene, an appeal echoed in a letter Tuesday signed by 87 Maryland legislators. Their letter argued that the energy auction last year that sparked this summer's rate hike was flawed. Ferguson, for whom energy policy was a focus this past session, said that sky-high energy bills over the winter months were a 'wake-up call' that spurred the legislature to action. 'We know that older coal plants and oil plants are being retired based on private action, and we have not built up enough alternative energy to fill it fast enough. And so the General Assembly had to act this year,' Ferguson said. Moore signs fiscal 2026 budget with tax increases into law in final bill signing He sponsored the Next Generation Energy Act, which was focused on power generation but became the vehicle for a number of energy proposals, on everything from trash incineration to natural gas infrastructure spending. The law also pulls about $200 million from a state fund that collects payments from electricity suppliers who cannot meet the state's renewable energy mandates and redirects the money to refunds for ratepayers. The rebate will average about $80 per household, split between two payments: one this summer and the second in the winter months. Some officials, including Maryland People's Counsel David Lapp, blame multi-state electric grid operator PJM Interconnection for the coming rate hikes. They say that when PJM held a capacity auction last year, it did not include the power expected to be generated by two fossil fuel powered plants it was requiring to stay open, driving prices at auction higher. Not only will ratepayers pay the high auction prices for power, they will also pay a premium to keep the two Talen Energy plants — Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner — operating. PJM has already pledged to change its auction policies to prevent a similar situation in the future. In the meantime, Lapp in April petitioned FERC to reject the cost increases for ratepayers. On Tuesday, the 87 legislators joined the chorus, urging FERC to reject the costs as 'unjust and unreasonable.' The Maryland Public Service Commission also backed Lapp, filing its own comments with FERC on Tuesday. 'Without Commission action, customers still will be stuck paying 'twice' as a result of last summer's auction,' the lawmakers' letter said. 'The Commission must act expeditiously to acknowledge and remedy the problems.' Lawmakers also called on FERC to 'protect Maryland customers from having to pay for windfall profits — far above the costs of service — to Talen to keep its Baltimore-area plants online.' Their letter said the two plants could keep running at a cost of $97 million, but consumers will be charged $180 million. Last week, a group calling itself the Maryland Environment Labor and Industry Coalition filed as a ballot issue committee with the state, indicating it intended to challenge the Next Generation bill via referendum. But a representative for the group said that was looking unlikely after Tuesday's signing ceremony. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'I would bet that they will not go forward with the referendum, and instead work closely with the governor and legislature to promote responsible environmental and labor-friendly laws,' said Doug Gansler, the state's Maryland attorney general. He said the group is still reviewing its options. But with no public outreach campaign, and just 11 days to collect the first 20,000 petition signatures from verified Maryland voters, he said the challenge may just be too great. The group, which has Montgomery County ties, seemed poised to focus on part of the Next Generation Act that would end a 'renewable energy' subsidy for trash incinerators that produce power. The state's two such incinerators are in Baltimore City and Montgomery County. The solar energy bill signed Tuesday by Moore has also garnered criticism, particularly from Republican legislators representing the rural Eastern Shore, who argued that the policy would make it easier for solar companies to gobble up productive farmland. But it was perhaps the least controversial bill of the package that found itself the target of a Moore veto Friday: A bill creating a 'Strategic Energy Planning Office,' funded by an existing process that also fuels the Public Service Commission and Office of People's Counsel. Moore's veto, citing the cost of establishing the office, surprised sponsor Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery). 'I look forward to better understanding his rationale and will work with leadership in the Legislature to determine next steps,' Hester said in a statement to Maryland Matters Friday. In a statement Tuesday, Emily Scarr, a senior adviser at the consumer advocacy group Maryland PIRG, said the bill made 'groundbreaking pro-consumer changes to utility regulation.' 'By prioritizing safety over gas system expansion and reining in wasteful spending by BGE and other Maryland utilities, this new law can save Marylanders hundreds of millions of dollars,' Scarr wrote. Lapp agreed. Family, loved ones of Davis Martinez honored during final bill signing of 2025 'Maximizing the legislation's potential benefits will depend on lots of work at the Public Service Commission,' Lapp said. 'We look forward to using the new tools to slow or prevent further rate increases.' Environmental groups were more mixed in their responses to the Next Generation bill. Many were troubled by its potential to expedite a new natural gas power plant in Maryland, including by fast-tracking new facilities on the site of retired power plants. But amendments lessened the blow, and added environmental priorities — like beefing up energy storage and cutting funding for incineration. The Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition, now known as MAREC Action, an industry group representing utility-scale developers of wind and solar, as well as battery energy storage, applauded the bill's power storage provisions in a statement Tuesday. 'With this legislation, our industry will invest in Maryland, deliver reliable energy resources needed to keep the lights on, and stabilize prices for Maryland ratepayers,' said Evan Vaughan, executive director of MAREC Action. The bill calls for two procurement periods, beginning in 2026, when the Maryland Public Service Commission will seek to bring 800 megawatts of energy storage in each period to the state. Currently, the multistate electric grid that includes Maryland only hosts 375 megawatts of storage, which MAREC said 'pales in comparison' to other states such as California and Texas. If Maryland follows through with the procurements, it would be positioned as an 'energy storage leader' within the 13-state PJM region, according to the industry group's news release. The purchases could work quickly to fill gaps in Maryland's electric grid, by storing energy for use during peak times, Vaughan said. 'Governor Moore and legislative leaders acted quickly and decisively to ensure Maryland maximizes its energy storage resources,' Vaughan wrote. 'These resources meet energy reliability needs more quickly than any other resource.'
