Last month, I spoke with a small business owner in Prince George’s County who told me her energy bill jumped almost $20. “It doesn’t sound like much,” she said, “but multiply that across 12 months, across three locations, and across all the other rising costs? It adds up fast.”
She’s right. Whether it’s a family running the dishwasher after dinner or a manufacturer keeping equipment online, Marylanders are feeling the strain of higher energy costs. And those costs don’t just stretch monthly budgets — they influence where people choose to live, where employers choose to invest and how competitive our state can be.
This question of how Maryland meets its growing energy needs took center stage at our recent Policy Forum for Maryland’s Future. Leaders from across the state underscored what many Marylanders already sense: Demand is rising, supply is tightening and without urgent action, the cost of keeping the lights on will continue to climb. The debate over who should build Maryland’s next generation of power plants isn’t just a technical or political conversation — it’s about whether families and businesses can afford to stay and grow here.
Across our region, older power plants are retiring faster than new ones can come online. Permitting and siting processes take far too long. And while renewable energy is essential to our future, many solar and wind projects are delayed by permitting backlogs, construction challenges, financing hurdles or grid interconnection waits. All of this tightens supply and raises prices.
The result? Monthly utility bills that continue to rise and a grid struggling to keep up with rapidly increasing demand for power driven by electrification policies, technology needs and everyday life. A $10-$20 increase for a household becomes $120-$240 a year. For a business with multiple facilities, that same increase can easily reach thousands. Energy is becoming yet another factor that makes Maryland less affordable for families and less competitive for employers.
This is why Maryland must be clear-eyed about what it takes to maintain reliability and affordability during the energy transition. Renewable energy will play a growing role in Maryland’s future. But intermittent sources like wind and solar cannot meet our rapidly rising demand on their own, especially in the near term. Natural gas remains a necessary part of the solution. It is efficient, available today and capable of providing the reliable, on-demand power that stabilizes the grid when demand spikes or when renewable output dips.
Leaders at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation have warned that the nation’s electric grid is under increasing strain and that every available megawatt matters. Even states with ambitious clean-energy plans, such as Massachusetts and New York, are adjusting their aggressive emissions reduction timelines. Recent comments and actions by elected officials reaffirm that natural gas must remain part of a balanced approach to ensure affordability and reliability.
Gov. Wes Moore’s Next Generation Energy Act is an important step toward improving Maryland’s permitting and siting processes. But the discussions at the policy forum made one thing undeniably clear: Maryland must move faster. If we want to attract employers, create jobs, grow our tax base and retain families, reliable and affordable energy must be treated as an economic priority — not simply an energy issue.
That means accelerating energy projects, modernizing infrastructure and embracing an all-of-the-above strategy that includes renewables, storage and the natural gas capacity necessary to bridge the gap as we build the energy system of the future.
Energy costs touch every Maryland household and business. If we act with urgency and balance, Maryland can build an energy system that supports affordability, strengthens our economy and positions our state as a place where people and businesses choose to stay and grow.
Mary D. Kane is president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.