Thank you for your coverage of Senate President Bill Ferguson’s and House Speaker Adrienne Jones’ Next Generation Energy Act (To stem rising energy costs, Maryland leaders want to build new power plants, Feb. 3, 2025), promoting new gas facilities as the solution for Maryland’s energy crunch. The full bill is now available, giving Marylanders a clearer view of the General Assembly leadership’s plan.

The bill’s call to build “dispatchable” methane gas plants rests on a couple of core ideas: that building a gas plant costs less than alternatives and that a gas plant can be built quickly, bringing electricity bills down fast. Neither of these ideas stands up to scrutiny.

On the cost side, a Brattle Group study and U.S. Energy Information Administration data agree that building and operating a gas plant today is more expensive than deploying utility-scale batteries or investing in energy efficiency and “smart grid” technology. These clean alternatives could more quickly solve Maryland’s electricity supply problem at a lower cost than gas.

Ferguson and Jones are suggesting the opposite: that gas is the less pricey option. But no one — not the legislators, not the gas companies who stand to profit millions — has presented independent data or modeling that shows gas beats other alternatives on cost. Where are they getting their numbers?

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

And despite cutting local oversight of gas plants by expediting Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity, the leadership bill isn’t likely to get any gas plants built soon. Recent DOE information shows that methane gas plants take at least three years to build, while battery storage and solar facilities can be ready in a year. In fact, Virginia’s Dominion Electric utility started planning its Chesterfield gas plant in 2023; it now hopes to start operating in 2029.

Maryland’s legislative leaders are failing to take into account information showing that clean energy, battery storage and energy efficiency solutions cost less and can be online sooner than fossil fuel options. If lawmakers are serious about lowering Marylanders’ electricity bills, they will stop promoting outdated gas technology and instead pass lower-cost and healthier renewable solutions.

Christine Pendzich is a 350MoCo steering committee member.