Baltimore County to buy more than 8 million kWh of solar power annually under 25-year agreement

Baltimore County will purchase more than 8,000,000 kilowatt-hours of solar energy each year for the next 25 years, a county staff member said, linking that renewable energy to almost 40 county facilities.

A county staff member told the meeting that the purchase is "a large step towards our goal of purchasing renewable energy from clean sources" and that the county has been increasing the amount of renewable energy it generates and buys year to year.

The staff member said the county began purchasing electricity generated at the Eastern Sanitary Landfill in 2023, added a large rooftop solar array atop the Randallstown community center last year and is opening a ground-mounted solar project in Parkton this year. When a larger project on a closed landfill in Hernwood comes online in early 2027, "we'll be generating almost 55% of the county's electricity from renewable sources," the staff member said.

County staff characterized the arrangement as a long-term purchase and said the renewable energy will be tied to nearly 40 county buildings, which the staff member described as meaning "those lights and the equipment in those buildings are using clean local energy." The staff member also said the program represents continuity in the county's multi-year effort to increase renewable electricity for county facilities.

The transcript provided these timing and capacity details but did not include a formal motion, vote, contract number or specific vendor names for the project. The transcript also did not specify exact facility names beyond the referenced community center, the Parkton ground-mount site and the Hernwood closed landfill.