Maryland’s General Assembly on Monday passed legislation that seeks to lower electricity costs in the state, an effort to address a growing concern in the Mid-Atlantic region spurred in large part by the proliferation of data centers.
The Utility Relief Act will save Maryland families at least $150 on their energy bills every year, Gov. Wes Moore (D), state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore) and state House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s) said during a news conference earlier Monday to announce an agreement on the bill.
The legislation easily cleared both chambers in the General Assembly, where Democrats hold majorities, on the last day of the 2026 session. Moore has indicated that he will sign the bill.
“Over the past year, energy prices have soared,” Moore said at the Monday news conference. “People are getting crushed. … Actions taken today will save hundreds of dollars for Maryland’s families.”
The bill, unveiledin March, would allocate $100 million from the state’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund to offset utility fees and help lower other energy costs, according to the joint announcement.
It would require data centers to cover the costs of their own energy infrastructure upgrades and mandate that utility companies find ways to increase the efficiency and capacity of transmission lines — measures aimed at preventing additional costs from being passed on to rate payers.
The legislation would also establish an annual bidding process for local clean-energy projects and streamline the permitting process for residential clean-energy initiatives.
Ferguson said Monday that the Utility Relief Act takes a systematic approach to the levers available in Maryland and makes “immense” policy changes in those areas so that no Maryland residents “are forced to choose between keeping the lights on and paying for their medication.”
“Marylanders are reeling from unacceptably high energy bills as utility companies are too often putting profits over people,” Ferguson said at the news conference. “And regional and federal entities have insufficiently kept pace with the rapid increase in the demand of electricity as supply has steadily decreased.”
Under the legislation, utility companies will have to inform customers about rate changes. The bill also requires the Public Service Commission conduct a study on rate-setting practices and cap the amount of investor-owned-utility executive salaries that can be passed onto Maryland families.
Peña-Melnyk said that easing the burden on ratepayers has been her top priority.
At the Monday news conference, she shared a story about her daughter, a medical student in Baltimore, being forced to keep her home thermostat at 60 degrees to save on energy payments.
“In the winter, because her bill was more than $300,” Peña-Melnyk said.
Advocates for Maryland rate payers applauded the legislation’s passage.
David Lapp, head of the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, said the bill does not accomplish everything his group wanted, including placing a bar on rate mechanisms based on forecasted spending by utility companies.
Nonetheless, the legislation “creates important tools, regulatory guidance, and added transparency that should help lower costs and reduce the upward pressure on skyrocketing utility rates that are driving an energy affordability crisis in Maryland,” Lapp said in a statement.
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