The Governors of Maryland and New Jersey have enacted legislation to accelerate the deployment of technologies, including solar and energy storage, in response to energy cost and supply concerns.
Both states are within the service territory of the largest grid and wholesale market operator in the US, the regional transmission organisation, PJM. Their moves follow a recent Virginia legislative update that greatly increases the deployment of energy storage, including long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. Virginia is also in PJM and home to ‘data centre alley,’ the biggest contributor by far to rapid electricity load growth within the 15 states and the District of Columbia that comprise the RTO’s service area.
The following items appeared in their original form on our sister site, PV Tech, over the past week.
New Jersey pursues ‘thousands of megawatts’ of renewables, Governor attacks PJM ‘mismanagement’
New Jersey will build “thousands of megawatts” of new solar PV and energy storage capacity, and introduce permitting reforms and electricity rate management, as per executive orders signed by newly inaugurated governor Mikie Sherrill.
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On her first day in office, 20 January, Governor Sherrill signed six executive orders, two of which related to the state’s grid operator and energy industries.
The first order will offset future electricity price rises using existing funds, which Sherrill’s office attributed to “the regional grid operator PJM’s mismanagement”. The order will also “hold utilities accountable” for preventing rates from “continuing to climb at an unsustainable rate”, it said.
The order will empower the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), a New Jersey government office, to “pause or modify utility actions that could further increase bills” and direct it to review utility business models “to ensure alignment with delivering cost reductions to ratepayers”.
The second executive order declares a “State of Emergency” to develop “massive amounts of new power generation” and to reduce state-level permitting delays and utility-level interconnection bottlenecks.
The order will establish and accelerate programmes “to bring on thousands of megawatts of new solar and battery storage generation”, it says, and will direct state agencies to identify permit reforms to more rapidly deploy new energy projects.
The second order is aimed at reducing energy bills, and Sherrill positioned it in opposition to federal policies. It reads: “More power means lower costs—and we must move quickly as the federal government cuts support for energy production”.
This story by Will Norman.
To read the full version of this story, visit PV Tech.
Maryland launches US$70 million programme, seeks to offset federal policy impacts
The governor of the US state of Maryland, Wes Moore, has launched a new fund to invest US$70 million in local solar and energy storage projects.
The state said the investment was a response to recent policy changes by the Trump administration, which have resulted in significant scaling back of federal support for clean energy.
“The investment will spur local, clean energy production by mitigating financial uncertainty caused by the Trump Administration’s cuts to the Investment Tax Credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a statement on the measures said.
The US$70 million Solar and Energy Storage Gap Financing Program will established under the Lower Bills and Local Power Act, part of a legislative drive aimed at improving energy affordability in the state. Few details on the fund have yet been published, but it will be administered by the Maryland Energy Administration, using capital from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, and invest in “shovel-ready solar-plus-storage projects”.
“Energy policy is about more than megawatts and transmission corridors – it is about whether Maryland families can afford to live in their homes,” said Governor Moore. “That’s why our administration is stepping up to deliver real relief, focusing on driving down the cost of utility bills for Marylanders, and investing in local projects that make energy more reliable and affordable.”
The Lower Bills and Local Power Act supports the governor’s Building an Affordable and Reliable Energy Future executive order, deploying nearly US$200 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund – sourced from utilities’ alternative compliance payments – to address rising energy costs. The legislation focuses on direct bill relief, grid modernisation and local generation development.
To modernise Maryland’s transmission system, the Lower Bills and Local Power Act requires “utilities to prioritise advanced and grid-enhancing transmission technologies when expanding capacity.” The measures are intended to increase the efficiency and capacity of existing lines, improving reliability without the need for new infrastructure. Utilities seeking approval for new transmission projects must first submit plans to deploy these technologies to the Public Service Commission.
The legislation has also allocated US$10 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund to the Maryland Department of Transportation to identify opportunities for high-voltage transmission and battery storage projects along state and interstate highways. By using existing highway rights-of-way, the state aims to “accelerate deployment by avoiding complex land acquisition and permitting”.
The legislation removed the existing 0.5% utility incentive, which allowed companies to earn additional profits. It also requires utilities to join the regional transmission organisation PJM Interconnection. The state said the measures “will increase accountability and save Maryland households tens of millions of dollars annually”.
This story by Shreeyashi Ohja.
To read the full version of this story, visit PV Tech.
