On the final day of the 2019 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), SB516, with veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate. The bill went through a truly up and down ride throughout session. We came in working on amendments to strengthen the bill as it was introduced and certainly didn’t get everything we were asking for, but we are undoubtedly glad to see the Maryland General Assembly committing to thousands of additional Megawatts of clean energy to fight climate disruption.
Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to share some reflections on the final bill that passed.
The Good
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SB516 raises Maryland’s requirement for renewable energy (which otherwise will flatline beginning in 2020), requires state planning to reach 100% renewable energy by 2040, and increases funding for clean energy workforce development. The 50% by 2030 RPS will be comprised of:
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A jump from 2.5% in-state solar to 14.5% by 2030. The solar carve-out level in 2028 alone is equal to all of the coal-powered electricity generated in the state in 2017.
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An increase from approximately 350 MW of offshore wind in 2022 to nearly 1600 MW of offshore wind in 2030. Maryland was at severe risk of losing out to New York and Massachusetts on attracting additional investment from the offshore wind industry -- CEJA helps us keep a better pace with this burgeoning market.
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The remaining percentage of the RPS (after the solar and offshore wind carve outs) will come from our other “Tier 1” renewable energy resources like land-based wind and other, not so clean, resources. Tier 1 includes things like land-based wind, solar not already in the solar “carve-out,” biomass, and trash incineration. The growth in Tier 1 is expected to come from land-based wind due to the continued price reductions in wind power, which will out-compete growth of more expensive Tier 1 resources like new biomass and new trash incinerators.
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The bill will also bring new green jobs to Maryland, provide training for those new jobs, and support small businesses and businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans so they can join the new green economy.
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Through the legislative process, the bill got even stronger in the jobs category as positive provisions for project labor agreements and community benefits agreements have been added into the original bill.
The Bad
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The Sierra Club opposes clean energy incentives for combustion-based resources that should be going to non-polluting wind and solar technologies, and we have fought this session to remove trash incineration from the list of “qualified resources” able to receive renewable energy credits.
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Unfortunately, despite the Senate passing a bill to remove the falsely-labeled “clean” energy subsidy for burning trash, the House committee amended the bill so that trash incineration remains qualified as a renewable energy source in our RPS. Ultimately, the General Assembly was running out of time and punted the action on trash incineration to future years and chose to move forward with a version of the bill that grows clean energy, sets better worker protections and standards for projects in the clean energy economy, and allocates money for workforce development and under-represented businesses in the clean energy industries, but does not change the definition of qualified resources in the RPS.
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The General Assembly also included a requirement of the state Department of Natural Resources to conduct a study on the role of nuclear energy in Maryland’s climate action work -- nuclear energy, like burning trash and biomass, does not belong in our RPS.
With regard to trash incineration, for the second year in a row, thanks to your advocacy and amazing organizing by community groups in Baltimore, Montgomery County, and elsewhere in the state, the Maryland Senate voted overwhelmingly to end the renewable energy incentive for burning trash. We know the fact that the final bill keeps trash incineration in Tier 1 is a problem for many people and is an issue that is deeply personal and impactful to communities. At Sierra Club we are committed to pushing for further progress in the coming years -- we will keep working to improve policy, improve our campaigning, and improve our work in coalitions and partnerships.
We look forward to celebrating, learning, and pushing for more and better policy into the future.
Thank you for all you do,
David Smedick