This year, CCAN and our partners continued the fight to keep Maryland at the national forefront on clean energy policy. We fought for a number of bills aimed at shoring up Maryland’s hard-won carbon cap and building on other clean energy policy victories of recent years. It was a tough fight, given the state budget difficulties and a state Senate that environmental groups were ready to declare an environmental dead zone at the end of the session. But, thanks to the hard work and dedication of grassroots activists across the state and many dedicated environmental advocates, we managed to score some victories for the climate at the final hour. At the top of our agenda this year was the fight to get a comprehensive energy plan for Maryland. Having a statewide comprehensive plan is absolutely essential to ensuring that Maryland is able to meet its ambitious climate and clean energy policy goals while creating thousands of new clean energy jobs in the process. House Bill 522 and Senate Bill 910, if passed, would have required the creation of a state energy plan that is consistent with all state environmental laws and required the Public Service Commission to review proposals with respect to that state plan. Sadly, both bills died in committee. However, thanks to the clear public support for this important energy blueprint, some legislative leaders recommended administrative action. So we are now working with Governor O’Malley and his administration to create a comprehensive energy plan. Stay tuned for more info on this effort. In addition to the comprehensive energy plan, CCAN fought for a variety of other important clean energy initiatives including an expansion and acceleration of the solar portion of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, the creation of clean energy loans programs, improvements the state’s net-metering policies, and an effort to prepare the state to cope with the stronger storms we are starting to face as a result of climate change.

Here a summary of how those bills fared:

Solar Energy: SB 277/HB 471 (WIN!) The Administration bill accelerating solar energy production in Maryland passed. However, the targets for accelerating the solar energy production were significantly weakened in the final version passed by the House.

Net Metering: SB 355 and HB 801 (WIN!) Both bills will improve our net metering law, requiring utilities to pay for excess power generated by solar power or other on-site generators.

Clean Energy Loans: SB 720/HB 1014 (LOSS) This common sense bill would have helped property owners afford clean energy projects, but was ultimately defeated, largely because of hard-fought lobbying efforts by the banking industry, which would have faced competition from the loan program.

Climate Adaptation: SB 1092 (LOSS) This bill would have empowered the state to study the connection between this past winter’s historic snowstorms and climate change, assess the future likelihood of such strong storms, and take steps to finance our emergency and disaster preparedness forces to deal with such future storms. Despite dying in Finance committee, the committee leadership is planning to work with the governor’s office to try to accomplish the goals of the bill.

With three wins and two losses, this Session wasn’t a perfect one for climate and clean energy policy but it certainly was one in which we carried Maryland further down the path towards the clean energy future. Big thanks to all of you amazing activists out there who proved that even in a tough year for environmental legislation, the power of grassroots action can achieve wins for the climate. We’re looking forward to continuing to work alongside you next session, and in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to win victories for the climate.