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On May 29, 2026 the Maryland PSC issued an order that sets forth common metrics for DRIVE Act July 2026 reporting requirements.

As background, the Maryland PSC initiated this proceeding in response to the 2024 Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification (DRIVE Act), intended to promote demand response, including various distributed energy resources (DERs), and other demand-side measures to improve grid function and lower customer bills. The act required investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to implement time-of-use rate (TOU), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and virtual power plant (VPP) pilots programs in 2025. IOUs must then submit the following:

• biannual pilot program reports, beginning 2/1/26;
• a report evaluating: (i) the potential to avoid or defer distribution capital projects through TOU rates, demand response (DR) and demand-side programs, and on-site renewable generation; and (ii) the merits of transitioning all customers to an opt-out TOU tariff by 7/1/26;
• a report on the impacts of TOU tariffs on the distribution system along with timelines, feasibility, and merits, and whether a full transition to TOU rates is justified by 10/1/27; and
• an assessment of any VPP and V2G pilot programs that includes a cost effectiveness evaluation, quantitative and qualitative assessments of benefits and costs, lessons learned, and any conclusions regarding making the program permanent by 10/1/27.

The Commission is required to submit a report and recommendations on the TOU pilots to the legislature by end of year 2027.

The Order directs the investor-owned utilities (IOUs): (1) report “for each currently forecasted system constraint: (i) “projected peak load exceedance”; (ii) “duration of forecasted overload”; (iii) time-of-day distribution of overloads”; and (iv) “peak load reduction potential of, at minimum, the distribution programs an IOU has assessed as possible non-wires solutions for that constraint as part of ESP”;

(2) file by 6/12/26, “for constraints for which the IOUs have already identified the potential for avoidance or deferral of capital investment and have a BCA available in the ESP docket (Case No. 9665)”: (i) “reporting on the benefits and costs of deferring applicable capital investments with demand-side programs, using the same methods being deployed in this year’s annual ESP reporting”; and (ii) “an explanation of the methods used and the assumptions made in using those methods such that results are traceable and repeatable”;

(3) include Staff’s recommended metrics in 7/26 reports: (i) “peak load reduction potential”; (2) “annual cost per kW of peak demand reductions”; (3) “the potential to direct load reductions to specific, localized, or defined geographic locations”; (4) “potential performance at different times of day”; (5) “other practical considerations”; and (6) “a description of distribution deferral screening capability”;

(4) provide, “to the extent information is available”: (i) “identify key implementation, operational, and customer bill-impact considerations relevant to evaluating whether opt-out TOU rates would be reasonable and practical”; (ii) “where there is a high level of uncertainty regarding the potential per-participant load reductions or enrollment levels associated with a program or rate offering… present expected peak load reduction potential and corresponding cost estimates across at least three scenarios—conservative, expected, and high-achievement cases— to bound potential outcomes”; (iii) for existing programs, “should assess whether design modifications could improve performance and quantify the impacts of such modifications”; (iv) “reasonable estimates where necessary, along with a clear explanation of the underlying assumptions and how the estimate was developed”; and (v) “clearly identify key measurement choices and assumptions used in their analyses, including the peak period evaluated and the relevant time window for load reductions.”

Previously on May 20, 2026 the PSC issued an order accepting BGE’s tariff revisions