Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore Introduces Lower Bills and Local Power Act
Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore has announced the Lower Bills and Local Power Act as part of the Moore-Miller Administration’s 2026 legislative agenda.
The legislation, focused on securing an affordable and reliable energy future for Maryland, introduces measures to secure financing for local clean energy projects, modernize the electric grid, and provide additional direct energy bill rebates to Maryland families.
Advancing the governor’s Building an Affordable and Reliable Energy Future executive order, the act mobilizes nearly $200 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which reinvests Alternative Compliance Payments from utilities, to address rising energy costs impacting Maryland families. The legislation acts through three pillars: providing direct relief to Marylanders, modernizing infrastructure, and developing local generation.
Approximately half of the funding mobilized by the legislation will be directed to Maryland families, with $100 million allocated for a new round of utility bill rebates. The rebates, to be administered in the fall of 2026, are in addition to the $200 million in direct electricity bill rebates delivered by Governor Moore and the Maryland General Assembly through the Next Generation Energy Act.
The act requires utility companies to prioritize advanced transmission technologies and grid-enhancing technologies while expanding grid capacity to modernize Maryland’s transmission infrastructure. The modern technologies are designed to increase the capacity and efficiency of existing transmission lines, increasing reliability for ratepayers without requiring new infrastructure.
Under the new requirements, utilities seeking approval to build new transmission lines should submit plans to implement these technologies before receiving approval from the Public Service Commission.
The governor’s legislation allocates $10 million in Strategic Energy Investment Fund for the Maryland Department of Transportation to identify opportunities for high-voltage transmission lines and battery storage projects along state and interstate highways. Maryland can bypass complex land acquisition and permitting processes by leveraging existing state highway right-of-way to deploy the high-voltage capacity necessary to improve grid reliability across the state.
The legislation also established the Solar and Energy Storage Gap Financing Program to promote local energy generation. The program, managed by the Maryland Energy Administration, will invest $70 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund to fund clean energy projects.
The investment will spur local, clean energy production by mitigating financial uncertainty caused by the Trump Administration’s cuts to the Investment Tax Credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The legislation not only helps reduce the current 0.5% incentive allowing utilities to collect additional profits but also mandates utility companies to join Maryland’s regional transmission organization, PJM Interconnection. The mandate will promote accountability for all utilities, saving costs of Maryland families annually.
The governor’s legislation is supported by actions taken by the Moore-Miller Administration to lower energy costs for Maryland families and businesses in 2025. In addition to signing the Building an Affordable and Reliable Energy Future executive order and delivering $200 million in energy rebates, the governor invested more than $130 million into clean energy and modernization programs in 2025 alone, including funding for county government energy modernization and the Decarbonizing Public Schools Program.