- The programme must be presented to the General Assembly by the end of this year and implemented by 1 July 2024.
- The bill follows on from a smaller pilot programme which saw the PSC mandate the state’s four big investor-owned utilities to procure two energy storage projects, each of varying types and uses, in 2019.
Legislators in the US state of Maryland have voted to approve a bill requiring the deployment of at least 3GW of energy storage by 2033, Making them the latest US state to make such a move. House Bill 910 was passed by the Maryland General Assembly this week and requires the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to establish a ‘Maryland Energy Storage Program’ and set deployment targets.
The targets are a cumulative 750MW by 2027, 1,500MW by 2030 and 3,000MW by 2033, using the delivery year of grid operator PJM, which starts on 1 June of the stated year (meaning an ultimate deadline of 31 May 2034). The programme must be presented to the General Assembly by the end of this year and implemented by 1 July 2024.
The 3GW is set in stone and falls at the mid-point of American Clean Power’s (ACP) recommendation of 2.5-3.6GW in a recent study. ACP applauded the passing of the bill, with Moira Cyphers, Eastern Region State Affairs Director, saying: “As storage is critical to meeting our nation’s emissions and energy goals, Maryland’s passage of this energy storage bill signals important progress toward building clean energy capacity.” The bill follows on from a smaller pilot programme which saw the PSC mandate the state’s four big investor-owned utilities to procure two energy storage projects each of varying types and uses in 2019.