State officials and MEA warn hundreds of Maryland community solar projects and grants are at risk under HR1
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Summary
Maryland Energy Administration and other speakers told the Public Service Commission that hundreds of community-solar and other distributed projects face loss of federal tax incentives unless permitting and interconnection timelines are accelerated. MEA estimated hundreds of projects and hundreds of millions in incentives and grants could be at
State energy officials and developers told the Public Service Commission that hundreds of community-solar projects in Maryland face a real risk of losing federal investment tax credits unless state permitting and interconnection processes move faster.
Haley Kotzker of the Maryland Energy Administration said MEA identified 273 active grant projects potentially affected by the new federal timing rules; MEA estimated the total investment at risk at roughly $353 million and that grant awards at risk total roughly $79 million. MEA said keeping practical extension policies in place for projects that have advanced in good faith and accelerating interconnection reforms are complementary short-term steps to preserve projects’ tax-credit eligibility.
Industry witnesses said the most immediately useful near-term reforms would be eliminating the SOID prerequisite delay, standardizing decommissioning agreements, strengthening utility reporting and compliance with interconnection timelines, and expanding flexible interconnection paths so projects can qualify for federal credits while upgrades are completed. Several companies stressed most of the near-term benefits would accrue to smaller distributed projects and community solar proposals that do not require full CPCN permitting.
Why it matters: MEA’s figures quantify the potential economic impact for Maryland stakeholders if projects cannot meet HR1 deadlines: private capital, state grant dollars, and near-term clean-energy capacity could be lost.
What’s next: MEA recommended expedited actions including maintaining extension policies for mature projects, joining utilities and developers on a rapid interconnection-reporting work group, and pushing PPRP/PSC to finalize DG CPCN and decommissioning procedures on a compressed timeline.
Quote: “We are tracking 273 active grant projects at risk and an estimated $353 million in total at-risk funding,” Haley Kotzker, Maryland Energy Administration.
Ending: The commission recorded the agency estimates in the conference record and asked staff, MEA and stakeholders to continue coordinated efforts to preserve projects before federal deadlines.
