New power projects seek approval as lawmakers voice concerns about Exelon proposal

(WBFF) — As long-term threats of rolling blackouts loom, Maryland state officials are working to get more energy projects on the grid.

As part of the Next Generation Energy Act, which passed and was signed into law during the last legislative session about a month ago, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) opened an application window for new energy projects, specifically dispatchable generation and large capacity energy resources. Certain projects will then be selected by the Commission to go through an expedited review process, which could last about nine to 10 months.

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With the application window now closed, five proposals were submitted, three of them from Constellation Energy. The proposals include various battery and natural gas projects. Some of the natural gas proposals stated they can run some level of hydrogen, which can create a cleaner energy source.

“We’re still watching the various full proposals come through, but that battery storage is the fastest and a very cost effective way to respond to the resource adequacy issues,” Del. Lorig Charkoudian said.

While some of the project details are redacted, Del. Charkoudian continued to say some of the other gas proposals highlighted challenges.

“Both of them really say that the current infrastructure that we have in Maryland, so that’s the pipes, the distribution and transmission pipes, are not sufficient for them to just go build a gas plant, right? And so what that means is that if we were to respond to our current situation with gas, not only would you have to build a new plant, you’d actually have to build a bunch of new pipelines. And again, because there’s so much that’s redacted, we can’t quite tell from the data that’s sort of publicly available what exactly those costs are,” she added.

“Well, some of the challenges with the way the General Assembly passed legislation is, I don’t know that we adequately incentivized operators to try to create more more energy production,” Senator Justin Ready said. “The constraints that were put on really make it very difficult for a company to find it profitable to come enter the energy market in Maryland.”

“I think the real challenge on energy is that it’s been for many years a very short sighted look,” Ready said. “I think we need to remove more of the shackles around natural gas production.”

At the same time, Exelon expressed interest in generating energy in an effort to help deal with the energy crisis.

Since BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon, in a statement, a BGE spokesperson said, in part:

Marylanders are struggling with high energy costs and BGE shares their frustration. That is why BGE and Exelon stepped up with our $15 million Customer Relief Fund in the short term and why we are now stepping up to address the energy supply shortage that is behind high energy costs and potential brownouts through long-term policies including regulated generation. Regulated generation would help bring costs under control, provide more certainty that more power sources will get built, and keep lawmakers and regulators in control over shaping the state’s energy future. Most importantly, this is about serving our customers. We are committed to collaborating with lawmakers, regulators, independent power producers, and all other stakeholders to consider feasible solutions to ensure energy security for all Marylanders. There is no debate: Maryland faces a crisis of energy affordability and reliability, and the time to act is now.

The statement continued to acknowledge new legislation passed by the General Assembly would be needed.

In a statement from Governor Wes Moore’s Office, David Turner, the Senior Advisor and Communications Director, said,

The Moore-Miller Administration is aware of the proposal and shares the concern about ensuring Maryland has a reliable and affordable energy supply, especially given rising demand. We are committed to exploring every option to strengthen our grid and bring down costs for consumers.

With that said, this proposal would be a fundamental reversal of the 26-year-old deregulation policy that was designed to protect consumers. We have significant concerns about any approach that could shift the financial risks of the new generation onto Maryland ratepayers. Any plan that seeks to roll back these foundational consumer protections will have an extremely high bar to clear and must demonstrate that it is the best and most cost-effective solution for Maryland families.”

“I look at it as two pronged we do need more energy production, and I wouldn’t reject out of hand.” Ready said. “Exelon building more generation, however, we can’t just wipe away or not have the right consumer protections. We need to be sure that we’re not gouging consumers.”

“The second thing is that we need to remember that Exelon is building a brand new transmission line from Peach Bottom into Brandon Shores that rate payers are paying $1.5 billion for and Exelon still has not disclosed to us how much energy we’re getting for that,” Del. Charkoudian said.

Del. Charkoudian said she has been asking for additional information for over a year.

“There’s a real question about, why are they holding back on this information about the power flow analysis of the $1.5 billion? Well, one reason would be that, you know, if what they want to do is suggest that we have a deficit of energy, and the only solution is for them to build new energy, then, of course, they wouldn’t want us to know how much we’re getting for the $1.5 billion we’re already paying. So I think it’s I think there’s a lot of concerns. There’s a lot of questions. In general, I don’t support the idea of them owning generation,” she added.