PSC takes Howard County request for community-solar bonding waiver under advisement after extensive questions

Howard County asked the Public Service Commission on an administrative docket for guidance and a possible waiver of the community-solar surety-bond requirement so the county can obtain subscriber organization authorizations for several county-owned projects.

Staff attorney Lloyd Spivak told commissioners the county’s proposed projects would push the county past the 1-megawatt threshold that triggers a bonding requirement under COMAR, and staff recommended caution. "If a county acts as a market participant, it must be subject to the same regulatory oversight as a private person," Spivak said, and staff outlined three options: (1) grant a waiver only if the county consents to PSC jurisdiction, provides an unconditional letter of guarantee backed by a dedicated reserve fund and annual disclosures; (2) grant a temporary waiver allowing interconnection applications to proceed while parties negotiate jurisdictional and fiscal safeguards; or (3) deny the waiver and require a legislative fix.

Commissioners pressed staff on legal authority and practical consequences. Commissioner Suchman said she was "a little concerned about mucking into jurisdictional issues between us and a county," asking whether the PSC could properly require a county to waive sovereign immunity or segregate funds. Spivak replied that commissioners should weigh how a decision might scale across the state and that a temporary waiver could allow projects to start interconnection while preserving later policy determinations.

Howard County administrator Tim Latimer and energy manager Leah Miller told the commission the county has already secured grant funding and begun preliminary project work. "We obtained a subscriber organization number for a project at a closed landfill and are developing additional solar canopy projects," Latimer said, adding the county has backing from "over $4,400,000 in grant funding from the Maryland Energy Administration." Miller detailed grant amounts, saying the landfill award was "a little over $3,000,000" and that three canopy grants were awarded at $400,000 each with one smaller grant around $150,000. She said the landfill project is in interconnection because the county already had a subscriber number; other projects are on hold pending resolution of the bond issue.

Juliana Bell of the Office of People’s Counsel asked that staff file its written comments so stakeholders can respond in writing; commissioners agreed and asked staff to prepare a written record. The commission did not vote on a waiver. The chair said the matter would be "taken under advisement" and requested written submissions from staff, the Office of People’s Counsel, and Howard County addressing staff’s proposed conditions and the feasibility of a temporary waiver.

Next steps: staff will file written recommendations and the commission will accept written responses; the commission did not adopt any rule, issue a waiver, or take final action at this meeting.