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Energy relief: MD lawmakers reach agreement on legislation
Gov. Wes Moore, House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson announce that they have come to an agreement on sweeping energy affordability legislation on April 13, 2026. (Hannah Gaskill/The Daily Record)
Energy relief: MD lawmakers reach agreement on legislation
Listen to this articleKey takeaways:
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk announced agreement on the Utility RELIEF Act in March 2026.
- The 104-page bill aims to reduce utility bills by rolling back the EmPOWER program and allocating $200 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund.
- Data centers must upgrade their own energy infrastructure to avoid burdening the grid and utility customers.
- The legislation prohibits utility companies from passing costs of joining regional transmission organizations and executive salaries to ratepayers.
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk announced Monday that they have come to an agreement on sweeping energy affordability legislation just hours before the General Assembly adjourns for the year.
“I want to say that this bill is a bill that gives relief to the people, not the utility companies,” Peña-Melnyk, D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s, said at an Annapolis news conference Monday morning. “I really believe that this bill that we have in front of us is the crowning achievement of this legislative session.”
Negotiations over the 104-page Utility Reducing Energy Load Inflation for Everyday Families, or RELIEF, Act ended over the weekend, settling policies on reducing ratepayer bills, data centers and executive salaries.
Among the numerous provisions of the bill are policies that would roll back Maryland’s EmPOWER program, which requires utility companies to incentivize consumers to save power and money, and appears as a line item on residents’ utility bills. Through the cuts, ratepayers are expected to save a minimum of $150 annually. The state would also be dipping into the state’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund to allocate $100 million to offset utility fees for households.
The RELIEF Act would pull an additional $100 million from the investment fund to create an annual bidding process for clean energy projects locally and simplify the permitting process for residential clean energy projects.
Data centers would bear the cost of upgrading their own energy infrastructures so as not to stress the grid or put the financial burden on utility customers.
The legislation would also prohibit utility companies from passing the cost of joining regional transmission organizations to ratepayers and bans them from shifting the burden of paying executive salaries to customers.
The House chamber approved the legislation on a vote of 105-27. It was passed in the Senate on Monday on a margin of 35-11.
At Monday’s Sine Die news conference, Moore said he and his administration collaborated with the Senate president’s and House speaker’s offices to “meet the moment for the people of our state” — something, he noted, appears to be “a foreign concept” to Washington, D.C., politicians.
“In fact, I’m not sure whether the president is too distracted or just doesn’t seem to care because he spent more time this weekend talking about waging wars overseas and ballrooms and the Pope and the Masters,” said the governor. “But here in Maryland, we have spent these weeks staying laser-focused on making life just a little bit more affordable for the people of Maryland.”
Those comments stirred critique from Republicans who attended the news conference.
“The press conference basically reminded me of the line of, ‘Tell me you’re running for president without telling me that you’re running for president,’” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, R-Allegany. “It’s pretty obvious that Governor Moore’s got Trump on the brain and D.C. on his mind more than Maryland.”
Buckel and other Republicans across chambers have railed for days against the RELIEF Act, saying to the press after the news conference that the bill won’t be effective alleviating the pressure utility companies have placed on Marylanders’ wallets.
Acknowledging that the state only has so much power to provide fiscal relief for ratepayers, Ferguson defended the bill as a dynamic effort to limit the ability of utility companies to jack up prices.
“The unfortunate truth is that Maryland only has so many tools at its disposal to lower bills and prevent future increases,” said Ferguson, D-Baltimore City. “That said, the Utility RELIEF Act takes a systematic and systemic approach to the levers available to the state of Maryland and makes immense policy changes in those areas, so none of our residents are forced to choose between keeping the lights on and paying for their medication.”
The plan has faced some opposition due to cuts to EmPOWER.
“Cutting investments in energy efficiency is a loss for consumers and a win for energy generators and utility companies who profit from high energy usage,” Emily Scarr, a senior adviser for the consumer advocacy organization Maryland PIRG, said in a statement last week. “Energy efficiency lowers utility bills, cuts pollution and reduces the need for expensive new power plants and transmission lines.”
Buckel and Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey Jr., R-Upper Eastern Shore, who have frequently echoed the talking point that the bill would shave approximately $12.50 from utility bills each month, were unfazed by the Democratic supermajority’s attempt at relief.
“Using the governor’s words himself: This offers a little bit of relief,” said Hershey. “They’ve taken 90 days to push through a policy that does very little for ratepayers. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
Asked for his response to Republican assertions that the bill doesn’t go far enough to save Marylanders money, Moore said, “What did they do?”
“They would rather try to make a political attack than provide support to the people in their jurisdictions,” Moore said. “They weren’t looking for progress. They’re looking for a talking point.”
This story has been updated with an interview with Moore, Scarr’s statement and the Senate vote.
