Our Maryland Assembly passed HB 801 this year, setting  the  stage for allowing owners of personal wind or solar systems, who “net meter” (meaning that whatever electricity their devices produce first offsets electricity they use) may now be entitiled to receive a cash payment for electricity they produce annually in excess of what they use.  This is a change because previously, if they produced more power, they simply lost the economic benefit.

But there are challenges to how this new benefit will be administrated.  The Public Service Commission is charged with writing new rules…and they are being asked by the Utilities for certain changes.

So, even though the law has changed….nothing is in place yet to allow you to obtain a cash payment for your excess power produced.

We will keep you posted on how this process unfolds in the next months…

In fact, Maryland did not make the “Top 20 Wind States” list published by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA.org) in 2007.

So, what are our challenges?  Do we have enough wind for wind turbines?  Do we have places where wind turbines will operate optimally…yet people will not let them be permitted?    Would you support a wind turbine in YOUR neighborhood?

These are just some of the issues that we’ll work on using this survey process and our vendor-neutral outreach programs.

“Wind is a terrific energy source that doesn’t need to be mined, transported or processed” says Janice Wiles, Executive Director for Friends of Frederick County. We hope that this survey will shed light on how to best support opportunities for the use of wind energy systems. When property sited wind energy systems benefit home owners, businesses, schools, farms and municipalities as they reduce the unpredictable and increasing electricity cost burden. New community-ownership strategies are making renewable systems more possible.

“If we want sustainable growth in Frederick County, we need to introduce and support a variety of distributed clean energy production options. Wind energy should be one of these options,” said Wiles.

Take our Current Survey

It’s  simple….and quick….and your responses will help us make Maryland’s energy economy more renewable.