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Maryland Energy Talk

Maryland Energy Talk explores how we can build a cleaner, more affordable, reliable, energy system for Maryland. We will explore new ideas about energy and review the fundamentals of our energy system.

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All Episodes

00:35:47

Maryland's Largest Solar Farm is on a Coal Mine

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2026/02/12

In December of 2025 a final switch was flipped and 160 megawatts of electricity started flowing onto Maryland’s grid from the biggest solar farm in the entire state, the Backbone power project in Garrett County. To give you a sense of how big 160 megawatts is, this project will produce more electricity than all the homes in Garrett County combined use in a year. When Backbone Power came online, it single handedly increased the total amount of solar power installed in Maryland by over 5%.The project

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00:29:01

Chair Korman on Energy Issues in 2026

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2026/02/04

Among the many changes made by Speaker Pena-Melnyk is moving energy issues from the Economic Matters Committee to the Environment and Transportation Committee. This is a change represents a shift in how energy issues are contextualized, from primarily being a matter of economic development, to being about the environment.This move sends the hot potato of energy issues to Chair Korman, who is my guest today to talk all about how he sees energy issues and what is thinking is at the start of the 2026

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00:49:02

Reducing Transmission Costs

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2026/01/29

Building new transmission is extremely costly and highly controversial but at the same time we know that more transmission will be needed on our electric grid as energy demand continues to grow. Is it possible for us to ensure the grid is capable of moving energy where it needs to go without breaking the bank or seizing property through eminent domain? The SAVINGS Act, introduced by Delegate Qi and Senator Hester, would deploy grid enhancing technologies that will allow us to get more transmission

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01:01:49

What is a Zero-Emission Heating Equipment Standard?

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2026/01/19

In his executive order on climate and energy issues in June of 2024 Governor Moore directed his agencies to design and implement a Zero-Emission Heating Equipment Standard and a Clean Heat Standard to support it. As far as policies to reduce pollution and costs for homeowners go, this is the gold standard, and I applaud Governor Moore for his leadership on this issue.A Zero-Emission Heating Equipment Standard paired with a Clean Heat Standard has the potential to fully decarbonize almost all of

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00:49:12

Vice-Chair Charkoudian’s Affordable Solar Act

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2026/01/05

Maryland has had policies to boost in-state solar generation for about two decades now, and those investments have paid off significantly. Solar accounts for 7% of the electricity Maryland generates, which is more than we generate from coal. Pennsylvania, which has practically no solar investment policy, gets only 1.25% of their electricity from solar. Even though Pennsylvania has twice the population of Maryland and is roughly four times the size of Maryland, we still have more solar jobs in

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00:49:42

PJM Didn’t Hit capacity. What Does That Mean?

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/12/18

On December 17th 2025 something happened at PJM that has never happened before. At their regularly scheduled Capacity Auction, PJM did not hit capacity. If you are like me, it’s clear to you that this is bad news, but you aren’t precisely sure what that means. To break it down and share his expertise I spoke with Bryan Dunning who is Senior Policy Analyst with Center for Progressive Reform.

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00:39:49

Electrifying Baltimore's District Heating

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/12/01

Many of the buildings that make up the Baltimore Skyline are heated by an underground network of steam moved through pipes. That district heating system is owned and operated by a company called Vicinity. Right now, that steam is almost entirely generated through combustion. However, Vicinity has high hopes for transitioning to electric steam, which is a very cool name for steam generated through electricity. This has the potential to decarbonize the heating load of many large buildings without

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01:02:47

Maryland's Most Successful Energy Program

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/11/18

Whether you care about energy costs, climate change, job creation or grid reliability there is one program in Maryland that has been more successful than any other, and that is the EmPOWER Program the state’s flagship energy efficiency program. According to recent analysis, Every dollar invested in EmPOWER Maryland returns $1.81 in benefits for Marylanders. By reducing aggregate consumer demand for power, EmPOWER investments keep electric rates down for all of us. As a result, EmPOWER has saved

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00:30:47

Secretary McIlwain on meeting Maryland’s climate...

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/11/07

In 2022 Maryland passed the Climate Solutions Now Act, a law that is so popular that Governor Hogan chose not to veto it in an election year. Maryland is now required by law to eliminate our net greenhouse gas pollution by 2045 and hit a 60% by 2031 benchmark. The very next year, in 2023 Maryland had the tremendous good fortune to have Governor Moore appoint Serena McIlwain as the new Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. Secretary McIlwain arrived in the position with a clear

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00:45:12

The Coal Plants Costing Maryland Billions

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/10/21

I think most people following Maryland energy issues are aware that Brandon Shores and Wagner coal plants are closing because coal cannot compete in today’s energy market, but far fewer know the full story of how these two coal plants, built more than 50 years ago, ended up costing Maryland rate payers billions of dollars in the 2020s. That story is so full of negligence, greed, and conflict of interest from PJM and utilities that I feel genuine shock every time I hear it. I honestly believe that

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00:49:38

Maryland’s Large Building Energy Success Story

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/10/17

Appliances used to heat our buildings emit three times more air pollution than all the power plants in Maryland combined. As we have talked about before, addressing this pollution in large existing buildings has tremendous benefits, and Building Energy Performance Standards or BEPS are an indispensable tool for energy efficiency and pollution reduction from large existing buildings. 15 different jurisdictions across the country have adopted Building Energy Performance Standards. Maryland, of course,

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00:46:41

Chair Hoover on the Future of Gas in Maryland

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/10/09

In February of 2023 the Maryland People’s Counsel initiated a docket at the Public Service Commission to consider the future of gas in Maryland. That docket has already resulted in meaningful changes to how Maryland regulates gas infrastructure, and the process is far from complete. To talk about the proceedings, what has come out of them so far, and what the next steps in the process are, I am thrilled to be joined by the Chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission himself, Chairman Fred

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00:49:15

Something New is Happening With Solar

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/09/21

Solar appears to have reached some kind of super critical singularity, or tipping point. Whatever you want to call it, something is happening with solar that has never happened before and that many people never thought would never be possible. In the first half of 2025 China installed more than 250 gigawatts of solar energy. For context, the PJM Grid has a combined total capacity of 182 gigawatts. So the solar China installed just in the past 6 months is capable of meeting 130% of PJM’s peak

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00:59:59

Why Energy Bills Are Going Up and How To Lower Them

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/09/09

Energy prices are going up and it is a real problem. Families are being forced to make difficult decisions about whether to heat their home, or put food on the table. What is driving up these energy bills? Exactly how much have they gone up, and what can people do to lower their bills? To help answer all of these questions my guest today is low income energy advocate Laurel Peltier who Chairs the Energy Advocates Coalition and has been instrumental in recent policy victories to help lower energy

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00:50:36

The Magic of the Maryland Clean Energy Center

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/09/05

If you could take every dollar the state invests in clean energy and turn it into two dollars, that would be a super power, but much more than that The Maryland Clean Energy Center has proven that it is able to turn every one dollar invested into clean energy into 14 dollars. Given that the state sorely needs the ability to multiply money right now, I sat down with Kathy Magruder who is the Executive Director of the Maryland Clean Energy Center and Keith Wang who is the Finance Manager at

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00:53:47

A New Way To Scale Up Distributed Energy Resources

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/06/11

The demand for electricity in our region is projected to increase sharply in the coming years, driven largely by data centers. We know that the fastest, most cost effective way to make sure the grid has the capacity to accommodate this increased demand is through the use of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Sparkfund is a new company with a novel approach to bringing DERs to scale. I first heard about Sparkfund from an episode of David Roberts’ Volts podcast (which I highly recommend listening to

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00:50:43

A New Report on How PJM is Increasing Energy Costs

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/05/30

Energy prices in Maryland are going up. They rose in January of this year mainly because of utility overspending on distribution networks, this summer and fall, bills are going to go up again but this time because of increases to the supply part of the bill, the responsibility of our region’s grid manager, PJM. It is well established that the private organization PJM that oversees our grid makes proposed new energy projects wait in a queue for a very long time before allowing them to get built,

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00:55:54

Mike's New Book: The Lost Trees of Willow Ave.

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/04/17

Mike Tidwell is the founder and executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and a successful author. For the past 20 years he has dedicated practically every day of his life to doing the most he possibly can to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. In the past two years or so that has meant on top of being an executive director for a regional non-profit, waking up before dawn every day so he could write a new book.That book, The Lost Trees of Willow Ave, a story of climate

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00:37:13

Session Recap 2025: A Deep Dive Into The Leadership...

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/04/08

Congratulations on finishing the legislative session of 2025 everyone! I want to say a heartfelt and genuine thank you to every lawmaker and every staffer who worked this session. As we are seeing on the federal level, a functioning government is not something to be taken for granted, and it is only possible here in Maryland because of your tremendous work and dedication. Thank you for your public service to Maryland and to your country. This year legislative leaders in the House and Senate passed a

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00:45:47

The Benefits of Advanced Clean Cars and Trucks

Maryland Energy Talk ·

2025/04/01

Advanced Clean Cars II is, according to MDE, Maryland’s single largest climate pollution reduction strategy over the long term, and Advanced Clean Trucks is a second program having a significant positive impact on Maryland’s transition off of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, there is legislation being considered this year, HB1556, that would delay the enforcement of both of these programs. In that context, I wanted to talk with Maryland’s leading clean transportation expert and advocate, Lindsey

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31 results

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