Maryland 2024 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB579 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0579
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 579
8	8	C5 4lr4581
9	9	CF SB 474
10	10	By: The Speaker (By Request – Administration) and Delegates Allen, Amprey,
11	11	Anderton, Bagnall, Bhandari, Boyce, Buckel, Conaway, Crutchfield,
12	12	Edelson, Fennell, Grossman, Guyton, Harris, Henson, Hill, Hornberger,
13	13	Jackson, A. Johnson, S. Johnson, D. Jones, Kaiser, Kaufman, J. Long, Love,
14	14	McCaskill, Miller, Munoz, Pasteur, Patterson, Phillips, Pippy, Pruski,
15	15	Reilly, Roberson, Roberts, Rogers, Rose, Ruff, Simmons, Simpson, Spiegel,
16	16	Taveras, Taylor, Toles, Tomlinson, Turner, Valderrama, Watson, Williams,
17	17	and Wu
18	18	Introduced and read first time: January 24, 2024
19	19	Assigned to: Economic Matters
20	20
21	21	A BILL ENTITLED
22	22
23	23	AN ACT concerning 1
24	24
25	25	Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and Related Approvals – 2
26	26	Definition of Generating Station 3
27	27	(Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act of 2024) 4
28	28
29	29	FOR the purpose of altering and establishing the definition of “generating station” for the 5
30	30	purpose of exempting the construction of certain generating facilities used to produce 6
31	31	electricity for the purpose of onsite emergency backup and certain test and 7
32	32	maintenance operations from the requirement to obtain a certificate of public 8
33	33	convenience and necessity or certain other related approvals under certain 9
34	34	circumstances; and generally relating to generating stations. 10
35	35
36	36	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 11
37	37	Article – Public Utilities 12
38	38	Section 7–207(a)(1) 13
39	39	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
40	40	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 15
41	41
42	42	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 16
43	43	Article – Public Utilities 17
44	44	Section 7–207(a)(4), 7–207.1(a), 7–207.2(a), and 7–208(a) 18
45	45	Annotated Code of Maryland 19
46	46	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 20
47	47	2 HOUSE BILL 579
48	48
49	49
50	50	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 1
51	51	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 2
52	52
53	53	Article – Public Utilities 3
54	54
55	55	7–207. 4
56	56
57	57	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 5
58	58
59	59	(4) “Generating station” does not include: 6
60	60
61	61	(i) a generating unit or facility that: 7
62	62
63	63	1. is used for the production of electricity; 8
64	64
65	65	2. has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 9
66	66	alternating current; and 10
67	67
68	68	3. is installed with equipment that prevents the flow of 11
69	69	electricity to the electric grid during time periods when the electric grid is out of service; 12
70	70	[or] 13
71	71
72	72	(ii) a combination of two or more generating units or facilities that: 14
73	73
74	74	1. are used for the production of electricity from a solar 15
75	75	photovoltaic system or an eligible customer–generator that is subject to the provisions of § 16
76	76	7–306 of this title; 17
77	77
78	78	2. are located on the same property or adjacent properties; 18
79	79
80	80	3. have the capacity to produce, wh en calculated 19
81	81	cumulatively for all generating units or facilities on the property or adjacent property, more 20
82	82	than 2 megawatts but not more than 14 megawatts of alternating current; and 21
83	83
84	84	4. for each individual generating unit or facility: 22
85	85
86	86	A. has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 23
87	87	alternating current; 24
88	88
89	89	B. is separately metered by the electric company; and 25
90	90
91	91	C. does not export electricity for sale on the wholesale market 26
92	92	under an agreement with PJM Interconnection, LLC; 27
93	93
94	94	(III) A GENERATING UNIT OR FACILITY THAT: 28
95	95	HOUSE BILL 579 3
96	96
97	97
98	98	1. IS USED FOR THE PROD UCTION OF ELECTRICIT Y FOR 1
99	99	THE PURPOSE OF : 2
100	100
101	101	A. ONSITE EMERGENCY BAC KUP AT A FACILITY WH EN 3
102	102	SERVICE FROM THE ELE CTRIC COMPANY IS INT ERRUPTED; AND 4
103	103
104	104	B. TEST AND MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS NECESSARY 5
105	105	TO ENSURE FUNCTIONAL ITY OF THE GENERATIN G UNIT OR FACILITY I N THE EVENT 6
106	106	OF A SERVICE INTERRU PTION FROM THE ELECT RIC COMPANY ; 7
107	107
108	108	2. IS INSTALLED WITH EQ UIPMENT THAT PREVENT S THE 8
109	109	FLOW OF ELECTRICITY TO THE ELECTRI C GRID; AND 9
110	110
111	111	3. IS SUBJECT TO A PERM IT TO CONSTRUCT ISSU ED BY 10
112	112	THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ; OR 11
113	113
114	114	(IV) A COMBINATION OF TWO OR MORE GENERATING U NITS OR 12
115	115	FACILITIES THAT SATI SFY ITEM (III) OF THIS PARAGRAPH . 13
116	116
117	117	7–207.1. 14
118	118
119	119	(a) In this section, “generating station” does not include: 15
120	120
121	121	(1) a generating unit or facility that: 16
122	122
123	123	(i) is used for the production of electricity; 17
124	124
125	125	(ii) has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 18
126	126	alternating current; and 19
127	127
128	128	(iii) is installed with equipment that prevents the flow of electricity 20
129	129	to the electric grid during time periods when the electric grid is out of service; [or] 21
130	130
131	131	(2) a combination of two or more generating units or facilities that: 22
132	132
133	133	(i) are used for the production of electricity from a solar photovoltaic 23
134	134	system or an eligible customer–generator that is subject to the provisions of § 7–306 of this 24
135	135	title; 25
136	136
137	137	(ii) are located on the same property or adjacent properties; 26
138	138
139	139	(iii) have the capacity to produce, when calculated cumulatively for 27
140	140	all generating units or facilities on the property or adjacent property, more than 2 28
141	141	megawatts but not more than 14 megawatts of alternating current; and 29
142	142	4 HOUSE BILL 579
143	143
144	144
145	145	(iv) for each individual generating unit or facility: 1
146	146
147	147	1. has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 2
148	148	alternating current; 3
149	149
150	150	2. is separately metered by the electric company; and 4
151	151
152	152	3. does not export electricity for sale on the wholesale market 5
153	153	under an agreement with PJM Interconnection, LLC; 6
154	154
155	155	(3) A GENERATING UNIT OR FACILITY THAT: 7
156	156
157	157	(I) IS USED FOR THE PROD UCTION OF ELECTRICIT Y FOR THE 8
158	158	PURPOSE OF: 9
159	159
160	160	1. ONSITE EMERGENCY BAC KUP AT A FACILITY WHEN 10
161	161	SERVICE FROM THE ELE CTRIC COMPANY IS INT ERRUPTED; AND 11
162	162
163	163	2. TEST AND MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS NECESSARY 12
164	164	TO ENSURE FUNCTIONAL ITY OF THE GENERATIN G UNIT OR FACILITY I N THE EVENT 13
165	165	OF A SERVICE INTERRU PTION FROM THE ELECT RIC COMPANY ; 14
166	166
167	167	(II) IS INSTALLED WITH EQ UIPMENT THAT PREVENT S THE FLOW 15
168	168	OF ELECTRICITY TO TH E ELECTRIC GRID ; AND 16
169	169
170	170	(III) IS SUBJECT TO A PERM IT TO CONSTRUCT ISS UED BY THE 17
171	171	DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ; OR 18
172	172
173	173	(4) A COMBINATION OF TWO OR MORE GENERATING U NITS OR 19
174	174	FACILITIES THAT SATI SFY ITEM (3) OF THIS SUBSECTION . 20
175	175
176	176	7–207.2. 21
177	177
178	178	(a) In this section, “generating station” does not include: 22
179	179
180	180	(1) a generating unit or facility that: 23
181	181
182	182	(i) is used for the production of electricity; 24
183	183
184	184	(ii) has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 25
185	185	alternating current; and 26
186	186
187	187	(iii) is installed with equipment that prevents the flow of electricity 27
188	188	to the electric grid during time periods when the electric grid is out of service; [or] 28
189	189	HOUSE BILL 579 5
190	190
191	191
192	192	(2) a combination of two or more generating units or facilities that: 1
193	193
194	194	(i) are used for the production of electricity from a solar photovoltaic 2
195	195	system or an eligible customer–generator that is subject to the provisions of § 7–306 of this 3
196	196	title; 4
197	197
198	198	(ii) are located on the same property or adjacent properties; 5
199	199
200	200	(iii) have the capacity to produce, when calculated cumulatively for 6
201	201	all generating units or facilities on the property or adjacent property, more than 2 7
202	202	megawatts but not more than 14 megawatts of alternating current; and 8
203	203
204	204	(iv) for each individual generating unit or facility: 9
205	205
206	206	1. has the capacity to produce not more than 2 megawatts of 10
207	207	alternating current; 11
208	208
209	209	2. is separately metered by the electric company; and 12
210	210
211	211	3. does not export electricity for sale on the wholesale market 13
212	212	under an agreement with PJM Interconnection, LLC; 14
213	213
214	214	(3) A GENERATING UNIT OR FACILITY THAT: 15
215	215
216	216	(I) IS USED FOR THE PROD UCTION OF ELECTRICIT Y FOR THE 16
217	217	PURPOSE OF: 17
218	218
219	219	1. ONSITE EMERGENCY BAC KUP AT A FACILITY WHEN 18
220	220	SERVICE FROM THE ELE CTRIC COMPANY IS INT ERRUPTED; AND 19
221	221
222	222	2. TEST AND MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS NECESSARY 20
223	223	TO ENSURE FUNCTIONAL ITY OF THE GENERATIN G UNIT OR FACILITY I N THE EVENT 21
224	224	OF A SERVICE INTERRUPTION FRO M THE ELECTRIC COMPA NY; 22
225	225
226	226	(II) IS INSTALLED WITH EQ UIPMENT THAT PREVENT S THE FLOW 23
227	227	OF ELECTRICITY TO TH E ELECTRIC GRID ; AND 24
228	228
229	229	(III) IS SUBJECT TO A PERM IT TO CONSTRUCT ISSU ED BY THE 25
230	230	DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ; OR 26
231	231
232	232	(4) A COMBINATION OF TWO O R MORE GENERATING UN ITS OR 27
233	233	FACILITIES THAT SATI SFY ITEM (3) OF THIS SUBSECTION . 28
234	234
235	235	7–208. 29
236	236	6 HOUSE BILL 579
237	237
238	238
239	239	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 1
240	240
241	241	(2) “Construction” has the meaning stated in § 7–207 of this subtitle. 2
242	242
243	243	(3) “GENERATING STATION ” DOES NOT INCLUDE : 3
244	244
245	245	(I) A GENERATING UNIT OR FACILITY THAT: 4
246	246
247	247	1. IS USED FOR THE PROD UCTION OF ELECTRICIT Y FOR 5
248	248	THE PURPOSE OF : 6
249	249
250	250	A. ONSITE EMERGENCY BAC KUP AT A FACILITY WH EN 7
251	251	SERVICE FROM THE ELE CTRIC COMPANY IS INT ERRUPTED; AND 8
252	252
253	253	B. TEST AND MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS NECESSARY 9
254	254	TO ENSURE FUNCTIONAL ITY OF THE GENERATIN G UNIT OR FACILITY I N THE EVENT 10
255	255	OF AN INTERRUPTION O F SERVICE FROM THE E LECTRIC COMPANY ; 11
256	256
257	257	2. IS INSTALLED WITH EQ UIPMENT THAT PREVENT S THE 12
258	258	FLOW OF ELECTRICITY TO THE E LECTRIC GRID; AND 13
259	259
260	260	3. IS SUBJECT TO A PERM IT TO CONSTRUCT ISSU ED BY 14
261	261	THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ; OR 15
262	262
263	263	(II) A COMBINATION OF TWO OR MORE GENERATING U NITS OR 16
264	264	FACILITIES THAT SATI SFY ITEM (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH . 17
265	265
266	266	[(3)] (4) “Qualified offshore wind project” has the meaning stated in § 18
267	267	7–701 of this title. 19
268	268
269	269	[(4)] (5) “Qualified submerged renewable energy line” means: 20
270	270
271	271	(i) a line carrying electricity supply and connecting a qualified 21
272	272	offshore wind project to the transmission system; and 22
273	273
274	274	(ii) a line in which the portions of the line crossing any submerged 23
275	275	lands or any part of a beach erosion control district are buried or submerged. 24
276	276
277	277	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 25
278	278	1, 2024. 26
279	279
280	280