Comments on the EmPOWER Maryland Program

Clean Energy Group submitted comments to the Maryland Energy Efficiency Advocates Future Programming Working Group on how the ConnectedSolutions model could be used to reduce peak electricity demand while bringing cost savings and energy resilience benefits to Maryland’s ratepayers, including limited-income households. ConnectedSolutions is essentially a funding mechanism for deploying behind-the-meter battery storage and harnessing that storage in aggregate to address regional peak demand and other grid needs. The basic program outline is explained and expanded in CEG’s recent report, ConnectedSolutions: A New State Funding Mechanism to Make Battery Storage Accessible to All. The ConnectedSolutions model has been successfully implemented in several northeastern states, where CEG provided analysis and advocacy for its adoption. CEG believes it can be successfully adopted in Maryland as well.