New community solar farms launch in Howard, Wicomico counties - Maryland Daily Record
New community solar farms launch in Howard, Wicomico counties - Maryland Daily Record
The newly opened 2.3 megawatts (MW) Nautilus Community Solar farm in Howard County provides clean energy to 250 local homeowners, renters, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. (Nautilus Community Solar photo)
Nautilus Community Solar, a Summit, New Jersey-based solar energy company, Wednesday announced the addition of solar farms in Howard and Wicomico counties totaling more than 5 megawatts (MW) of power.
The farms will serve more than 500 residents within the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE) and Delmarva utility companies.
In May 2023, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland signed HB 908 into law, making Maryland the 23rd state in the U.S. with a permanent community solar program. The new legislation will ensure that historically disadvantaged Marylanders have equitable access to utility bill savings at a time when inflated energy prices are driving up household energy costs.
Any residential customer is eligible to subscribe to a portion of the energy produced by the local project and receive savings of 10% (and 25% for qualifying LMI) on their electric bill.
Nautilus currently owns and manages 18 community solar farms totaling nearly 43 MW, enough power to provide cleaner energy to more than 3,600 Marylanders.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar
Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.