The House gave overwhelming approval Tuesday night to a broad piece of energy legislation that Democrats believe will lead to a noticeable reduction in peoples’ gas and electric bills, starting as soon as this summer.
The final 108-25 vote on the Utility RELIEF Act included 10 Republican votes, even though the House spent hours beating back GOP attempts to amend the bill Tuesday morning. It also occurred just days after Gov. Wes Moore (D) and legislative leaders unveiled the sweeping proposal.
The legislation would reduce a surcharge on monthly bills that supports EmPOWER Maryland, which gives customers access to free and reduced-price smart thermostats, efficient appliances and weatherization. The cuts to EmPOWER and delays in other clean-energy goals have been a sore spot for environmental groups, but they are also the source of the immediate customer savings that lawmakers have made the goal of the bill.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it has the support of Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City).
In unveiling the package last week, the governor’s office estimated that it would save ratepayers an average of $150 a year, but House Democrat Tuesday that they believe that is an underestimate.
“I want to correct the record: It is not just $150,” House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) said from the rostrum Tuesday night. “That is the minimum.”
That $150 mainly comes from reductions in the EmPOWER surcharge, which currently costs about $15 to $20 a month per household. Other changes in the bill are harder to tabulate, but should reduce future rate hikes, pushing the $150 in savings higher, said Peña-Melnyk and other Democrats.
That list includes changing the way Maryland utilities can ask for rate hikes by requiring them to discontinue the use of spending forecasts; encouraging transmission upgrades instead of new power lines; regulating data centers; and attempting to restore competition among energy suppliers.
“This bill does so many things to address so many issues — the issues that we can control on the state side, not necessarily the PJM issues,” said Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery), referring to the regional electric grid operator.
Republicans who voted against the bill generally said that they felt it did not go far enough to provide savings, and failed to adequately embrace power sources such as natural gas and nuclear. But GOP delegates who voted for it felt that it went just far enough.
“Anything is better than nothing,” said Del. Richard Metzgar (R- Baltimore County). “A piece of pie is better than no pie at all.”
For House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R-Frederick) it was a “tough” decision. But Pippy said he voted for the bill because he appreciated some provisions affecting his district in Frecerick County, where a large data center campus is proposed, as is a large and controversial power transmission line.
“The bill addressed some issues that were local: Power lines, data centers. It provided a little bit of relief. I wish it would have went further, but I think that’s the conversation we’ll have back in my district,” he said.
Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore County), vice chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee the advanced the bill, had pushed Republicans to vote for the bill, even if they disagreed with parts of it, because it would save constituents’ money.
“There is no way that you’re going to be able to spin a red vote on this bill, because your constituents want to see action, and a red vote on this bill means that you’re opting to do absolutely nothing,” Guyton said.
Earlier Tuesday, the chamber debated the bill for more than three hours, rejecting a slew of GOP amendments that would have further curtailed the EmPOWER program, as well as other climate initiatives that appear on bills, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Other Republican amendments aimed to encourage natural gas and small modular nuclear reactors, while discouraging offshore wind.
In some places, though, the two parties found common ground.
House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) offered an amendment that would have cut many components of the bill, but he also ran through a list of provisions he didn’t touch because they would reduce utility bills in Maryland, though he said some don’t go far enough. His amendment would have kept the EmPOWER cuts, as well as the end of a policy that lets utilities to ask for higher rates if they overspend, and limitations to the DRIVE Act, which compensates utility customers for using batteries and EV chargers to contribute back to the grid.
“The amendment leaves everything that we believe actually produces rate reduction effects, and takes out all the other stuff,” Buckel said. “It takes out all the other stuff about solar, it takes out all of the other stuff that some of the activists would want. It just focuses on rate reduction.”
But Guyton said Buckel’s amendment also removed a number of provisions that would, in fact, cut bills.
“All session long, everyone on this floor has heard from members in the minority party: ‘Where’s the bill? We’re not doing enough.’” Guyton said. “What this amendment is doing, friends, is telling us to do less.”
The temporary cuts to EmPOWER’s energy efficiency programming have been a significant issue for environmental groups.
Programs dedicated to low-income customers, run by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, would not be affected by the cuts under the bill.
But the changes would ease the greenhouse gas reduction target that utilities need to hit for 2027, reducing the size of the rest of the program — and the surcharge on bills. It would take until 2036 for the emissions targets to return to current levels.
The bill would also allow utilities to count certain solar projects toward their target, which would have the effect of further cutting EmPOWER. An amendment offered Tuesday by Environment and Trasportation Committee Chair Marc Korman (D-Montgomery) limits the solar projects to 20% of the goal.
“That ensures that the efficiency pieces will all still stay active, especially during these three years, when we’ve sort of reduced the goal before it starts rising back up,” Korman said.
Before Tuesday’s amendment, an analysis from the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, which opposes the cuts, found that counting an unlimited amount of solar energy would “completely satisfy” the new greenhouse gas reduction target in the legislation for 2027 to 2029.
“In other words, it would result in eliminating any program for the utility-run portion of the EmPOWER MD law,” reads the analysis.
Ratepayers would save $1.8 billion thanks to the reduced surcharge, but would lose $4.2 billion to $4.6 billion in “lifecycle benefits” from the energy efficiency program, according to the Sierra Club.
One Republican, Del. LaToya Nkongolo (R-Anne Arundel), proposed an amendment that would have eliminated EmPOWER entirely. She argued that only a small fraction of Marylanders actually use the program, and wealthier individuals who own their homes are more likely to take advantage of the appliance rebates.
But Korman and others pushed back.
“I would ask the body to resist the proposal to entirely eliminate this very important energy efficiency program that actually helps us lower our bills,” Korman said. “Because if we don’t get more efficient, we are locking in high energy prices for generations.”
In addition to targeting EmPOWER, Republicans also attacked other programs in the bill, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Initiative, in which Maryland is a participating state. Through that program, there is a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions-producing power plants must compete in an auction for carbon allowances. The auction produces proceeds that are directed toward energy assistance for low-income households, as well as renewable energy programs.
“RGGI is a grift, and it’s a horrible one. If you want to really help low-income people, let them keep their money,” said Del. Brian Chisholm (R- Anne Arundel), a member of the conservative Maryland House Freedom Caucus.