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Home | News | Maryland aims to expand solar power

Businesses, legislators and Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D-Md.) administration staff gathered Feb. 16 to show support for pending legislation in the Maryland General Assembly that would increase the state's use of solar power, according to www.environmentmaryland.org.

"Growth in the solar industry is one of the biggest success stories we have in the current economy," says Environment Maryland State Director Brad Heavner. "As federal stimulus money dries up, we need to make sure market mechanisms are in place to keep these companies thriving so they can continue hiring people and reducing pollution year after year."

Three policies have been introduced to expand solar power in Maryland:
  • O'Malley has proposed accelerating Maryland's solar energy standard that requires a certain percentage of electricity to come from solar power.

  • Sen. Mac Middleton (D-Charles) and Del. Sue Hecht (D-Md., 3A district) have introduced legislation to create Clean Energy Loan Programs, which would allow people to pay back loans at a low interest rate over long periods of time. This reportedly would help make solar power more affordable for small businesses and the average homeowner.

  • Hecht, Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Md., 22nd district) and Del. Brian McHale (D-Md., 46th district) have proposed legislation that requires utilities to pay customers for excess power they generate from solar panels and other on-site facilities. Currently, ratepayers carry a credit from month to month, but any excess power at the end of the year becomes free power for utilities.
Additionally, the O'Malley administration has announced it will spend $8 million in federal stimulus funding for solar power on public buildings.

"We not only need to remove any obstacle to expanding solar energy—we need to provide incentives to encourage its use," Pinsky says. "Solar energy can help reduce residential energy costs and fight climate change while creating new green jobs."

Environment Maryland reports that 25 percent of Maryland homes are ready for solar panels and could capture energy that currently is unused. Maryland gets about 196,000 gigawatt-hours of solar energy on a sunny, summer day; that is more than what Maryland's mostly coal-fired power plants produce in a year.


    2/18/2010

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