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Consultants warn county leaders to prepare for Maryland building emissions benchmarking and fees for large properties
Summary
A consultant briefed the council on a Maryland regulation that requires large buildings (35,000 square feet or larger) to benchmark energy use, submit data and face phased greenhouse-gas targets and per-ton compliance fees that will tighten over time; county-owned buildings will be subject to the rule unless exempted.
A consultant briefed the Wicomico County Council during a March 4 open work session on Maryland’s recently phased-in building greenhouse-gas benchmarking and compliance program and urged local building owners and government departments to prepare.
Scope and deadlines: Matt Drew explained that the regulation covers buildings 35,000 square feet and larger. Owners must compile and submit energy-usage data to the state’s reporting system beginning with an initial reporting deadline (Drew identified a September 1 reporting milestone). The regulation phases in progressively tighter greenhouse-gas intensity standards on future target dates cited by Drew; building owners that exceed the standards would pay an alternative compliance fee assessed on a per-ton basis.
Fees and exemptions: Drew said his modeling shows per-ton fees would start at about $230 per ton under the initial target and rise toward roughly $280 per ton under later deadlines. He described exemptions and carve-outs — for example, truly manufacturing facilities may be exempt while warehouses and off-site storage often are not; historic properties and some K–12 uses are excluded but must apply for the exemption in writing. Food-service energy use and separate dedicated meters for kitchens are handled differently in the benchmarking, he said.
County impact: Drew noted roughly 9,000 buildings statewide likely meet the threshold and said about 200 buildings would meet it in Wicomico County alone. He recommended that the county and large private building owners begin benchmarking now, automate utility data transfers where possible (Delmarva Power has systems that can help), and factor potential compliance costs into multi-year capital plans. Drew also noted the regulation calls for third-party verification of submitted data every five years.
Why it matters: The regulation shifts part of the greenhouse-gas compliance obligation to building owners and creates an ongoing reporting and potential fee burden; for public entities it may require changes to capital planning and equipment-replacement cycles. Drew urged early action to avoid last-minute scramble to collect utility data and to prioritize capital work for buildings with the worst energy intensity.
Ending: County staff and stakeholders will need to identify covered buildings, set up benchmarking in the EPA Portfolio Manager or equivalent, request utility data transfers where available and begin integrating expected compliance costs into capital forecasts.
