Annapolis, MD — Today, environmental, consumer, and faith advocates gathered in Annapolis for a rally calling on elected officials to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy and protect the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF). The rally featured testimonies from Marylanders about the impact of high energy costs on their families and how the SEIF was essential in reducing the burden. Speakers also highlighted the benefits of programs currently funded by the SEIF.
“My church is ready to go solar, but the solar grant we need ran out of funds,” said John Magoon, a lay leader at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Laurel. “Our friends at Interfaith Power & Light say at least five other congregations ready to go solar were denied too, because demand way outstripped supply. Polluters are paying into the SEIF because Maryland is falling short of our climate goals. And communities like mine are prepared to help meet those goals. So when I hear that the Governor’s budget is proposing to raid hundreds of millions of dollars in clean energy funds yet again, instead of giving the grants that would make my church’s solar panels possible, I take it personally. I’m coming to Annapolis to call on our leaders to make sure every dollar in the SEIF serves the purposes for which it is intended.”
“We’re grappling with the fact that we need to be thinking longer term about solutions. That short-term subsidies are just that – short term solutions,” said Tanushree Dutta Isaacman with the Maryland Just Power Alliance. “We’re trying to imagine a Maryland where all children can breathe clean air and where all families can afford heating their homes.”
“Many Maryland families are too often stuck with inefficient and heavily polluting heating and water systems that drive up energy bills,” said Josh Tulkin, Director of the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter. “Highly efficient heat pumps and heat pump water heaters can save families up to $1,000 a year, improve health outcomes, and create hundreds of millions of dollars worth of economic and climate benefits statewide. By using SEIF strategically to invest in greater efficiency, Maryland lawmakers can deliver a lifetime of savings.”
"The Strategic Energy Investment Fund invests in programs that address key priorities for Maryland: clean energy and climate change. These funds also help consumers save money on their energy bills, which is especially important for low-income households," said Kim Coble, Executive Director of Maryland League of Conservation Voters. "Ensuring SEIF funds continue to support climate programs and energy assistance should be a top priority for legislators."
“Spending SEIF for its intended purposes is a critical part of our goals of affordability, accountability, and responsiveness to the needs of Maryland families and the achievement of our climate goals,” said Delegate Dana Stein.
“The SEIF is designed to help Maryland center innovation, equity, and ensure the expansions of clean energy, climate action, and decarbonization in the state,” said Brittany Baker, Maryland Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund. “We cannot continue to let the urgent eclipse the important by diverting these important resources for purposes unrelated to the intention of the fund.”
Following the rally, advocates attended the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Hearing on the Governor's proposed budget to testify about the importance of the SEIF. Over 45 Marylanders packed the room to express their support for preserving and protecting funding for energy efficiency and clean energy.
For two decades, Maryland’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF) has helped families and businesses save money while powering the expansion of clean energy. This year, the Governor’s budget has proposed to divert $400 million in energy efficiency and clean energy funding from the SEIF for the general fund and other uses.
Amidst skyrocketing energy prices, a deepening climate crisis, and rollbacks in federal funding for energy efficiency and clean energy, advocates are calling for the protection of this critical funding through legislation and the state budget for lower energy bills and for healthy communities.
###