Maryland Gov. Martin O?Malley?s package of energy proposals to combat a looming power shortage will increase local electric rates but lower consumers? bills, supporters said Tuesday.
State lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly heard hours of testimony on legislation to cut energy consumption by 15 percent over the next seven years and require utility companies to offer programs such as rebates for energy-efficient lightbulbs or incentives for in-home energy audits.
“Energy efficiency works,” said Malcolm Woolfe, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “This isn?t science fiction. The reality is as close as our hardware stores.”
Advocates commonly use discounts on highly efficient lightbulbs as an example of a cost-effective program. But as utility companies begin creating new programs ? which Public Service Commission chairman Steve Larsen said would cost hundreds of millions of dollars ? consumers? bills will only go down if programs truly pay for themselves.
“If they aren?t, rates go up and bills aren?t reduced,” Larsen said.
Experts have predicted rolling blackouts by 2011 if consumption is not drastically reduced.
O?Malley has proposed a trust to fund energy efficiency financed by pollution “credits” auctioned to electric companies in June. The first-of-its-kind auction could generate $80 million to $140 million, officials said.
Several lawmakers said they favored using the fund to provide direct rebates to consumers. Bill Prindle, deputy director for the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, said ratepayers would only see a $10 reduction in their bills, which is only 1 percent of the average bill..
Maryland is far behind other states in investing in energy efficiency, officials said Tuesday. In 2004, the state invested 1 cent per person in efficiency, compared with a national average of nearly $5.
“This is not just a West Coast, New England thing,” Prindle said. “Energy bills are going to go up if we do nothing.”
