The Maryland Public Service Commission on Wednesday set out far-ranging mandates for electricity companies to help meet a state goal of reducing energy consumption per person by 15 percent by 2015.
The order will require utilities including Baltimore Gas and Electric to establish programs making it easier for consumers to obtain energy efficient appliances and conduct energy audits of their homes.
Those programs will create a slight increase in ratepayers monthly bills, approximately $1 for BGE customers. But PSC Chairman Douglas Nazarian said that the potential savings from energy efficiency would far outweigh those costs, and that the agency would work to keep the add-ons as low as possible.
The EmPower Maryland Energy Efficiency Act passed earlier this year required electricity companies statewide to file plans to reduce demands and cost by Sept. 1. Under the law, the PSC was required to take action on the utilities’ plans by Wednesday.
“We have a lot of work to do in order to bring this to fruition,” Nazarian said. “But in a very real way, these order now allow our utilities to really start making real energy savings opportunities available.”
Orders were issued to Baltimore Gas and Electric, Pepco, Delmarva Power and Light Company, Allegheny Power and the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. on Wednesday.
Nazarian said the BGE programs approved by the PSC are similar to those rejected it earlier this year. The revised version, however, cut administrative costs by between 35 percent and 45 percent.
The EmPower Act was a brainchild of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration and a primary piece of his agenda this year.
“The programs approved today will not only help build a more sustainable energy future, but will also provide the opportunity for Maryland ratepayers to save on energy and ultimately lower their bills,” O’Malley said in a statement Wednesday.
Nazarian said some programs will need further refinement and all will need ongoing review, but the PSC’s orders represented an important step in Maryland’s energy future.
“The utilities now have what I think is a very clear directive form the commission about the kinds of directives they should be in administrating,” he said. “They should be in a position to get them going and roll them out.”
