Update 1/27: The Council has voted to balance solar siting in the Ag Reserve with protections for forests, productive soils and water quality. The practices of 3rd party energy suppliers in the state remain a problem despite this compromise on solar siting. To be clear - this post is only about some 3rd party solar suppliers reselling renewable energy credits and not state regulated community solar where residents subscribe to a local solar array. The latter is an effective way to bring equity to solar energy and has the oversight in place to protect vulnerable residents that is currently missing from the 3rd party supplier market.
Why do we care? Vulnerable residents in the County are getting heavy marketing from these 3rd party companies (both green and conventional) that are under investigation for false claims of lower energy bills.
Why do we care? Vulnerable residents in the County are getting heavy marketing from these 3rd party companies (both green and conventional) that are under investigation for false claims of lower energy bills.
Renewable energy is going to need to be part of the solution to climate change, but on the way to our renewable future, we need to be sure that holistic solutions balance natural systems, equitable access and transparency.
ZTA 20-01 proposed up to 3 square miles of solar arrays in Montgomery County's 40 year commitment to farming and open space, the Agricultural Reserve, with scant protections for productive farmland, forests and water quality. Compromise amendments balanced soil/forest/water protections in siting in line with the County's master plan and national best practices.
Among the benefits of the ZTA touted by its backers is solar energy for low income people in the county that are unable to access renewable energy. The Community Solar program allows for this but the ZTA did not stipulate that the power will go only to the Community Solar program, rather that it would be net metered. Net metered energy, once produced becomes part of the state's deregulated energy market and the resulting lack of transparency has created a wild west of 3rd party power suppliers now under investigation for predatory practices, particularly in low income neighborhoods.
Representatives of some of these same companies were the ones pushing for this ZTA in the Ag Reserve.
Representatives of some of these same companies were the ones pushing for this ZTA in the Ag Reserve.
The short story is told by the Baltimore Sun in December 2019 - "Maryland must crack down on energy suppliers that entice people into bad, pricey contracts." - and the Office of the People's Counsel is filing complaints with the Public Service Commission as a result.
Two State Representatives penned an Op-Ed in the Sun "Switching utility companies means many low-income Marylanders paying more" - laying out the ways in which these companies lure low income people into adjustable rate contracts that are then paid by state and local energy assistance funds. This deregulation and the shenanigans it allows is costing all of us more but particularly harming the most vulnerable. The Energy Assistance Protection Act proposed in the piece is long overdue.
Or WYPR- last February covering the price gap for green energy suppliers - Baltimore residents have been paying an average of 50 percent more than a regular utility customer - and at variable rates that always seem to be going up. From 2014-2017, this unregulated market (green and conventional 3rd parties) cost Maryland consumers $600 Million above what would have been paid to the standard utility (Pepco, ConEdison, BGE, etc).
Two State Representatives penned an Op-Ed in the Sun "Switching utility companies means many low-income Marylanders paying more" - laying out the ways in which these companies lure low income people into adjustable rate contracts that are then paid by state and local energy assistance funds. This deregulation and the shenanigans it allows is costing all of us more but particularly harming the most vulnerable. The Energy Assistance Protection Act proposed in the piece is long overdue.
Or WYPR- last February covering the price gap for green energy suppliers - Baltimore residents have been paying an average of 50 percent more than a regular utility customer - and at variable rates that always seem to be going up. From 2014-2017, this unregulated market (green and conventional 3rd parties) cost Maryland consumers $600 Million above what would have been paid to the standard utility (Pepco, ConEdison, BGE, etc).
A report from the Abell Foundation has dug into the details. We were fortunate to attend a webinar with one of the researchers behind the Abell report, Laurel Peltier. Her whole presentation on 3rd party power distributors is here (pdf) . Below, a few of the slides explained:
Laurel has broken out the top green energy companies and the percentage they charge over the typical statewide average price per kilowatt. Paying slightly more for renewables that do not have the subsidies of dirtier fuels makes sense, but 60% more? 70% more? The 16 Million dollars at the bottom represents the total extra paid by those 43,877 residents to these 4 companies over the amount they would have paid the standard supplier in 2018 alone.
These suppliers are buying the RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) from energy generators (with the deregulation involved these can come from the obvious wind, solar or the head scratcher- trash incineration). These cost around 1 cent/killowatt hour. However the adjustable rate of these evergreen contracts can go up considerably and without notice, not as a result of more power used, but the entire price structure is variable after the introductory rate period.
The bottom line is this - narrowly- this ZTA in MoCo was pushed by companies that are coming under scrutiny for practices that seem to be harming consumers - often the consumers who can least afford it.
Broadly, before we lose any more productive farmland and forests here in the county and across the state to commercial solar, transparency and equity must be brought to the 3rd party energy supplier market.
Broadly, before we lose any more productive farmland and forests here in the county and across the state to commercial solar, transparency and equity must be brought to the 3rd party energy supplier market.
