News Stories
Sponsored by Earth Etch. Regulatory insight and compliance solutions for today’s energy markets.
PSC Staff Files Clean Energy Advantage Pilot Evaluation
On August 14, 2026 Maryland PSC Staff filed 2026 Clean Energy Advantage (CEA) pilot evaluation.
Among other things, Staff concluded that:
(1) “Should CEA become a permanent offering, it should be available, responsive to market demand, and attractive to contractors as the current design is reliant on contractor promotion,” recommending considering “additional eligible measures (e.g., GSHP) and the flexibility to cover ancillary or health and safety costs” to grow participation;
(2) “Most (57%) of CEA pilot applicants and survey respondents were not part of low- or middle-income households”;
(3) “Issues identified in the first evaluation persist regarding data consistency between CEA and rebate programs,” recommending “the utility account number(s) should be collected on the CEA application, and the rebate IDs tracked by CEA should be reconciled regularly with the rebate program implementers. Rebate programs should also track associated loan identification numbers from InClime”;
(4) “there are opportunities to reduce program and lending costs,” recommending considering: (i) “options to remove the LLR of already enrolled loans and discontinuing future LLR enrollments”; (ii) streamlining “reporting by not splitting out Montgomery County/MCGB territory”; and (iii) “whether additional lending partners could create competition and enable more favorable terms now that loan performance is better understood”; and
(5) “Both BeSMART and CEA loan processing timelines may not be suitable for time-sensitive projects.”
As background, this Maryland proceeding was initiated to consider, approve, and monitor the 2024-2026 EmPOWER Maryland program. EmPOWER Maryland is a program of the state’s gas and electricity utilities which covers energy efficiency, conservation, and demand response programs pursuant to the EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act of 2008.
SMECO, Potomac Edison, WGL, Pepco, DPL, and BGE filed 2026 mid-year EmPOWER Maryland reports.
On August 17, 2026, the Department of Housing and Community Development filed 2026 semi-annual EmPOWER Maryland Limited Income Programs report.
