“About $50 million worth of solar panels will appear on Maryland Department of Transportation parking lots and brownfields in coming years, paid for with money from a state renewable energy fund,” according to the site.
What does this mean for Maryland residents? Despite the propaganda distributed by forces aligned against renewable energy in our state, the facts are that Maryland is making significant inroads in providing residents with clean, affordable solar power.
MDOT has reached an agreement with the Maryland Energy Administration to use the Strategic Energy Investment Fund for the project. The fund, supported in part by payments from fossil fuel utilities, was already allocated by the General Assembly through last year’s budget process.
Gov. Wes Moore also wants to direct hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund toward climate and energy programs. These include a one-time electric bill refund averaging about $40 per household and a program to finance solar projects to help make up for the loss of federal tax credits.
Recently appointed Maryland Energy Administration director Kelly Speakes-Backman, a former Biden administration energy official, called the solar project “exactly what’s intended for the SEIF.” The panels will feed electricity into the grid, while the state will also receive credits on its electric bills over the life of the projects.
The transportation sector has particular reason to support the project because it is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland.
The panels will not appear immediately. MDOT renewable energy program manager Anne Marie Esposito said they are not expected to come online for at least a few years. Installation generally takes a year to 18 months after solar companies receive utility interconnection agreements, and MDOT must still put the project out for bids.
The Maryland Energy Administration estimates the project will produce 35 megawatts of power. MDOT says that is roughly enough electricity to power 120,000 Maryland homes for a year. In 2025, about 272 megawatts of solar capacity were installed in Maryland, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
This is a significant step in the necessary transition from our past to the future. Climate change is undeniable. Solar energy represents an important part of the future of clean, affordable electric power for Maryland. This is a great start.
Jim Wilkins
Claiborne
9 Responses
Except Solar, is intermittent energy source and not affordable, like the false claims that they are. Look up intermittent and you will see a picture of a solar farms. Cloudy , snowing ,icy. rainy, Or just Plain nighttime they do not produce energy when the demand is needed. FACT !!
I have solar which charges batteries which can store vast amounts of electricity. Solar is the future!
You don’t really understand the concept of integrating solar into the energy infrastructure. Normally energy storage is integrated into utility scale solar installations to provide energy even at night! So maybe if you look into the technology a little further you will understand the versatility and cost effectiveness of utility scale solar installations
While the trump administration is (illogically) against solar and wind generated energy, some of the largest investors of these sources of energy are the oil companies and so-called “red” states -Texas is the largest producer of wind generated electricity followed by Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas. Vlearly, these entities understand the value of alternate energy sources as a component of a national energy strategy. In addition to causing higher energy costs for consumers, the trump administration has just paid a German company $1.4 billion after cancelling a wind power contract. I ask: “does that make any sense?”
Agree, and where did Trump get the funds to “pay off” the wind companies to give up their projects? OUR TAX MONEY, without Congressional Approval!
Great idea to put solar panels over paved areas or on grassy medians and other SHA land. Preserve farmland for farming!
China leads the world in total volume of solar and wind installations, producing thousands of terawatt-hours. Meanwhile, nations like Denmark, Uruguay, and Germany get the highest shares of their daily power from these sources, and Australia leads in per-capita solar generation. United States: Ranks second globally in total wind and solar generation capacity, driven heavily by states like Texas and Iowa. We can and should be doing more as a world leader. The U.S. ranks second in annual emissions and maintains the highest per-capita emissions rate among major industrialized countries. This needs to change.
China leads the world in total volume of solar and wind installations, producing thousands of terawatt-hours. Meanwhile, nations like Denmark, Uruguay, and Germany get the highest shares of their daily power from these sources, and Australia leads in per-capita solar generation. United States: Ranks second globally in total wind and solar generation capacity, driven heavily by states like Texas and Iowa. We can and should be doing more as a world leader. The U.S. ranks second in annual emissions and maintains the highest per-capita emissions rate among major industrialized countries. This needs to change.
This is a great use of State-owned paved parking areas and brown fields. It will be the cleanest part of Maryland’s utility infrastructure, and it is already in the overhead all of us pay for as utility customers, so it can help pay some of that overhead with generated energy. My own household has been a net energy producer si9nce 2017 when my rooftop system came online.