Overview
- The order directs the Maryland Energy Administration to petition the Public Service Commission to review utility budget-billing practices and to ask regulators to require transmission owners to evaluate advanced technologies before building new lines.
- It launches a Maryland Energy Site Readiness Initiative to prioritize industrial and brownfield sites, tasks the Transportation Department to identify state road corridors for transmission and storage, and asks Commerce to assemble incentive packages.
- A new Energy Subcabinet led by MEA director Kelly Speakes-Backman and a Maryland Energy Advisory Council will coordinate actions, with initial recommendations due within 180 days and many steps requiring PSC approval over multiple years.
- State data show residential electricity rates have risen 44% since 2020, with demand growth tied to data centers, electrification and population increases, and Maryland importing about 40% of its power annually.
- The action follows PJM’s latest capacity auction showing a future supply shortfall for 2027–2028; Moore labeled it a $16.4 billion price hike, a characterization PJM disputes as a roughly 1.3% capacity price increase with limited retail impact.