Committee advances energy package with new solar permitting reporting, EV accounting and utility pay limits

The Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 841 as amended, adopting a package of changes to state energy policy that the panel’s sponsors said will improve data collection and better align incentives for emissions reductions.

The committee accepted a series of amendments that (1) require counties and municipalities to report annually to the Maryland Energy Administration the total number of residential solar permits issued; (2) add expected generation accounting and restore electric vehicles as an allowable contribution to EMPower greenhouse-gas reduction targets; (3) broaden a definition to include utility 'officers' when limiting what executive compensation may be recovered in rates; and (4) require the Maryland Clean Energy Center’s annual report to describe activity and outcomes for a nonprofit renewable-energy loan program, including number and dollar value of loans, average terms and estimated annual kilowatt-hour savings and greenhouse-gas reductions.

"I had an opportunity to read the Kagan amendment in context of the entire bill," Senator Watson said when withdrawing a duplicate provision and moving other prongs…