A Bipartisan Breakthrough on Energy Affordability in Maryland

By Ian Magruder and Molly Knoll

Democrats and Republicans can’t seem to agree on much of anything in our country these days. But perhaps one topic that both parties can agree on is the fact that electricity prices have become too high, which opened the door to a notable moment of bipartisanship in Annapolis last week.

After nearly four hours of debate on the large Democratic-led energy package moving through the Maryland legislature, in which Senate Democrats voted down nearly every Republican amendment, Republican Sen. Justin Ready (Frederick and Carroll Counties) introduced an amendment on grid utilization – prioritizing affordability by “getting more out of the grid we have” – and the Democrats, led by Senate President Bill Ferguson (Baltimore City) and Sen. Brian Feldman (Montgomery County) , chair of the energy committee, accepted it without objection.

So what is grid utilization and why are leaders in both parties coalescing around this concept? Our electrical grid was built to “peak” capacity, ensuring that even on the hottest summer afternoons or coldest winter mornings, when the grid is under the most strain, the air conditioners, heaters, and lights stay on. But this means that on most hours of most days, when the grid is not stretched, we have a lot of spare capacity sitting idle. In fact, on average, America only uses roughly half of the total capacity of our grid.

Imagine building a fleet of airplanes but flying them with half of the seats empty on average. If you could fill more seats, the cost of flying would be cheaper for each passenger, because you divide the fixed cost of the plane and its operation across more tickets sold. The same basic principle applies to the grid. If we can push more power over the grid that we have already built and paid for, we could lower prices for everyone.

And this is not a small idea. A new report from The Brattle Group found that a 10% increase in grid utilization could save Americans $110-$170 billion in their utility bills over the next decade. But how realistic is an increase in grid utilization and what solutions could contribute to this shift?

Thankfully, a wide range of technologies can flexibly manage the grid and increase the total utilization of the system, including batteries that charge when the grid has spare power and discharge when extra power is needed, to demand response programs and “grid enhancing technologies” that enable more efficient use of existing infrastructure. The solutions are ready, but the challenge is that we are not meaningfully incentivizing or even measuring grid utilization today.

Which brings us back to Sen. Ready’s simple yet bold amendment. It would require Maryland utilities to measure grid utilization down to the substation and feeder level, report these metrics to the Public Service Commission, which regulates the Maryland grid, and formally incorporate these metrics into the grid planning process for the first time.

And although Sen. Ready serves in leadership for the Maryland Senate Republicans, he may have an ally on this topic from the second floor of the State House as well. Last December, Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order on energy affordability that highlighted “grid optimization” as a key strategy to lowering electricity prices. Virginia’s newly elected governor, Abigail Spanberger, recently championed similar legislation, which was passed by the Virginia legislature on a bipartisan basis last month. 

All eyes will be on the Maryland House as it considers this impactful policy before the session ends April 13. Perhaps there are some common sense ideas that we can all still agree on. 

Ian Magruder is the Founder and Executive Director of Utilize Coalition, an industry-led nonprofit focused on increasing grid utilization to make electricity cheaper, faster, and more reliable.

Molly Knoll is a policy consultant with Align Energy Advisors and former Senior Advisor to the Maryland Public Service Commission.