MD lawmakers look to regulate utility companies, PJM in 2026

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As ratepayers grow more exasperated with each hike of their utility bills, Maryland lawmakers are making plans to ease the pinch on their wallets during the 2026 legislative session through data center, utility company and grid regulation.

“People are frustrated — and frustrated at utilities, specifically — for driving up the cost of energy, both for the delivery of energy and for their role in delivering up the cost of transmission of energy and energy, itself,” said Emily Scarr, a senior advisor at Maryland PIRG.

Scarr said that utilities have the ability to make money in the state, but largely under a monopoly.

“For doing that, they have an obligation to provide a public good and service, to provide safe and reliable energy,” she said. “But when utility profits skyrocket and service doesn’t improve, or even provides less value for ratepayers, something is very wrong.”

“That’s where we are in Maryland,” said Scarr. “Our utilities are providing reliable service, generally. However, the cost has gone up so rapidly — particularly for Exelon-owned utilities — that customers are beginning to feel like they aren’t receiving the value for what they are paying for.”

Exelon is the parent company of Baltimore Gas and Electric and Pepco, both of which provide energy for much of the state.

“It’s time for the legislature to intervene,” said Scarr.

Jamie DeMarco, the principal of the energy lobbying firm DeMarco Advocacy, said that the General Assembly “took tremendous strides” in 2025 to reduce energy costs, but, while the state is beginning to see the benefits of that legislation, “it is taking time to take effect.”

Last year, legislative leadership put together a package of bills in an attempt to address rising energy costs and Maryland.

More from Eye on Annapolis: The Daily Record is publishing a series of stories previewing key topics, including the following, that are expected to be tackled by the General Assembly in the weeks leading up to the 2026 session. Energy DJS abuse lawsuits Juvenile Justice Attorney General’s Office Health Care Immigration Budget State Leadership

House Economic Matters Committee Chair CT Wilson, D-Charles, and Senate Education Energy and the Environment Committee Chair Brian Feldman, D-Montgomery, sponsored the Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which set standards across the state for battery storage and solar energy projects.

According to DeMarco, solar is “the cheapest form of electricity generation in human history, and is also the fastest to build.”

“We need to double-down on solar generation in Maryland and find smarter, more efficient ways of investing in solar,” he said.

Next year, Del. Lorig Charkoudian, D-Montgomery, plans to sponsor a bill to create competitive procurement for utility-scale solar projects, like solar farms, using money that’s already been collected for the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard, “so ratepayers won’t see an increase on their bill,” she said.

“There’s money already going into the fund for the renewable energy portfolio standard, so it uses that money that’s already being collected, manages it differently — so without increasing the cost to ratepayers — we get more solar built, and, once that solar is built, it will actually help drive down the cost of electricity over time,” Charkoudian said.

A battle over bills

The largest bill in the 2025 legislative package was sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, D-Baltimore County, and Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City. The Next Generation Energy Act, which mandates that the Maryland Public Service Commission seek out proposals for new energy sources to meet energy needs during peak summer hours to allow for the phase out of coal and oil.

The bill also provided $200 million in energy rebates for ratepayers in peak summer and winter months.

Over the summer, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, announced a similar rebate program for ratepayers that he brokered between the parent Exelon and local nonprofits to give $19 million in one-time payments to ratepayers.

The same day, Moore criticized the Next Generation Energy Act for not going “far enough,” noting that his own nuclear-minded legislation did not make it to his desk.

Last year, the Moore administration unsuccessfully sponsored the ENERGIZE Act, which would have created a 100% clean energy goal for Maryland, added nuclear into Maryland’s clean energy portfolio standard and altered the procedure and requisites for offshore wind projects.

But some advocates agree with Moore regarding Jones’ and Ferguson’s legislation.

In an October interview, Food and Water Watch’s Southern Regional Director Jorge Aguilar criticized the bill as a “fast-track” for the construction of new methane gas and nuclear plants that “will be astronomically expensive to build out.” He also called the rebates, which total approximately $80 per ratepayer, “short-term fixes that don’t address the larger problems.”

“We’re really hoping that Senate President Bill Ferguson actually does more to think about long-term how he’s going to protect Maryland families who are really hurting from these rate hikes,” said Aguilar.

Of the legislative leadership package, Moore vetoed its third prong, the Energy Resource Adequacy and Planning Act. Sponsored by Sen. Katie Fry Hester, D-Howard and Montgomery, and House Economic Matters Vice Chair Brian Crosby, D-St. Mary’s, the bill would have established a study on the effects fossil fuel companies have had on climate change in Maryland and created an office in the Maryland Public Service Commission to end the state’s reliance on PJM Interconnection for energy load forecasting.

Maryland is one of 13 states plus Washington, D.C., on PJM’s grid.

The Democrat-controlled General Assembly has the ability to override Moore’s vetoes when it next reconvenes. In an October interview with The Daily Record, Hester said she was “very disappointed and very surprised” that Moore vetoed the legislation, but feels “there’s a very good chance” that his veto will be overridden. 

A focus on the grid in 2026

Looking to 2026, Hester said she has been working with a bipartisan coalition of more than 50 legislators representing states on PJM’s grid to push for reforms to how it manages large load connections. She is considering sponsoring a bill to incentivize data centers to build their own power sources and not guarantee that they will have firm power service, or won’t experience blackouts, until they bring their own energy capacity to the table. Hester is hoping that lawmakers from other states on the grid will follow suit to form an interstate compact.

Charkoudian plans to reintroduce a bill to implement the use of grid-enhancing technology software to maximize the use of Maryland’s energy grid, which, in turn, would save ratepayers money and get more electricity moving faster than it would through the creation of another transmission line.

Hester also plans to crossfile legislation with Charkoudian to make data centers flexible with their load capacity by temporarily reducing their energy consumption during certain hours to prevent blackouts.

Hester will additionally put forth another bill she hopes lawmakers from other grid states will sponsor to create a load joining queue for data centers, which would require them to ask for a certificate of operation before they begin taking energy from the grid. Should it become law, utility companies would have to analyze transmission impacts, expected electricity use, energy generation plans and the importance of the data center to Maryland’s economic vitality so that the state can work more transparently with PJM on load forecasting and oversight.

The fourth energy-minded bill Hester plans to introduce will seek to incentivize utility companies to make cost containment plans for their energy distribution systems that they would submit to the Public Service Commission for review and oversight, hopefully minimizing costs for ratepayers.

Beyond forthcoming legislation from Hester and Charkoudian, Scarr said she would like to see the General Assembly pass reforms to help reduce utility profit incentives and prohibit utility companies from donating to political candidates and elected officials.

“Democracy is based on the idea of one person one vote, in that everyone should have, more or less, equal opportunity to influence the outcome of elections,” she said. “But, unfortunately, when corporations can make large donations, it impacts who is able to run for office, who wins elections and what they do when they’re in office.”