Maryland

Projects

 

  • Maryland Public Service Commission Renewable Energy Credit Award: In May, 2017, the Maryland Public Service Commission awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits (ORECs) for two projects to be built off the coast of Maryland. This decision will enable U.S. Wind, Inc. and Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC to construct 368 megawatts of capacity at $131.93/MWh for twenty years. US Wind has plans to be on-line by 2020 and Skipjack plans to be operational late in 2022. The two developers have taken different approaches to development—US Wind plans to build the 248MW project in one go, whereas Skipjack will start small (120 MW) to meet current demand and expand to meet future demand. Together, the projects will yield over $1.8 billion of in-state spending, creating almost 9,700 new direct and indirect jobs and contributing $74 million in state tax revenues over 20 years. Order 88912 can be found here.
  • Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Lease Awards:
November 2010 - BOEM initiated the leasing process offshore Maryland by issuing a Request for Interest and received nine responses.
February 2012 - BOEM published a Call for Information and Nominations to solicit lease nominations and request public comments. Six nominations of interest wishing to obtain a commercial lease were received.
February 2012 - BOEM published a Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for commercial wind lease issuance and site assessment activities.
June 2012 - BOEM published a Finding of No Historic Properties Affected for the Issuance of Commercial Leases within the Maryland Wind Energy Area.
December 2013 - BOEM published a Proposed Sale Notice describing proposed terms and conditions for a lease sale for two commercial wind energy leases in the Maryland Wind Energy Area which covers approximately 80,000 acres.
July 2013 - BOEM published a Final Sale Notice of a commercial lease sale for the Wind Energy Area offshore Maryland.
August 2014 - A commercial lease sale for Maryland was held and US Wind, Inc. was the provisional winner of both leases.
December 2014 - Commercial wind energy leases with US Wind Inc. went into effect.
 

 

 

Policy, Planning, & Regulations

  • Energy & Climate Change Planning:  The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009 (Chapter 172 of the Acts of 2009) requires Maryland to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions 25% from 2006 levels by 2020 and to adopt a final plan to achieve the reductions by December 31, 2012.
     
  • Energy Demand/Incentives:  Maryland’s renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) requires electricity suppliers to provide at least 20% of retail electricity sales from renewable sources by 2022 and beyond.  The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013 (House Bill 226)incentivizes the development of offshore wind deployment through a carve-out of a portion of the Tier 1 renewable resource requirement under Maryland’s RPS, not to exceed 2.5% from offshore wind sources between 2017-2022. 

  • Regional Offshore Wind Initiatives:  Maryland signed an inter-state memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2009 with Delaware and Virginia to coordinate policies for electric transmission, supply chain facilities, research and development, and workforce development.

  • Regional Electricity Transmission Planning:  Maryland's electricity transmission is coordinated by the PJM Interconnection regional power grid.

Supporting & Complementary Assets/Infrastructure

  • Supply Chain:  Maryland has ports close to the highest level of steel supply capability, according to a 2012 report prepared for the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA).  Dundalk Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore and Sparrows Point Shipyard Industrial Complex (SPSIC) possess the capability to begin staging for components.  SPSIC has a logistical advantage due to the presence of RG Steel, which could attract other manufacturers to serve the offshore wind supply chain.
  • R&D:  As a condition for its merger settlement with Constellation Energy Group, Exelon Corporation committed to providing $30 million for the development of a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) and installation of meteorological towers, and $2 million to support wind energy generation research and development at a public university or research institution.

Economic Fundamentals

  • Population:  6.0 million (1.9% of US, 2016)¹
  • Population change (2010-2016): 4.2%²
  • Civilian labor force:  3.2 million (2.0% of US, 2017)¹
  • Median hourly wage (all occupations): $20.68 (2016)³
  • State corporate income tax rate: 8.25% (2017)⁴
  • Per capita personal income:  $57.936 (7th in US, 2016)¹
  • Residential electricity prices:  14.53 cents/kWh (2017)¹
  • Commercial electricity prices:  10.96 cents/kWh (2017)¹
  • Industrial electricity prices: 8.44 cents/kWh (2017)¹
  • Total energy production: 250 trillion Btu (0.3% of US, 2015)¹
  • Net electricity generation:  2,455 thousand MWh (0.8% of US, 2017)¹
  • Total energy consumption per capita:  233 million Btu (40th in US, 2015)¹
  • Carbon dioxide emissions:  18,314 thousand metric tons (0.9% of US, 2015)¹
  • Sulfur dioxide emissions:  31 thousand metric tons (1.2% of US, 2015)¹
  • Nitrogen dioxide emissions: 15 thousand metric tons (0.8% of US, 2015)¹
  • Total estimated technical offshore wind potential generation:  96,289 GWh/yr (1.3% of US, 2016)⁵

References:  U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA)¹; U.S. Census Bureau²; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)³; Tax Foundation⁴; and, U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)⁵