WHAT'S NEW:

No recent state activity has been identified.

AIR EMISSIONS REGULATIONS:

Air Quality Status	The entire state is in the OTR. There are 12 areas in moderate nonattainment for the 8 hour ozone standards and 11 areas in nonattainment with the PM 2.5 standards. EPA's Nonattainment Areas
NSR Threshold	100 tons of NOx, 50 tons of VOCs, and 250 tons of any other criteria pollutant.
Minor Source Permitting Exemption	Size and operating hour based
Minor Source Treatment	Opacity and PM limits
Emergency Generating Limits	Avoid PSC permitting fees

DE MINIMIS EXEMPTIONS

Fuel burning equipment and space heaters using gaseous fuels or No. 1 or No. 2 fuel oil with a heat input less than 1 MMBtu/hr are exempt from obtaining a permit to construct. Stationary internal combustion engines with an output less than 500 bhp (373 kW) and which are not used to generate electricity for sale or for peak or load shaving are also exempt. State notification is required. See Title 26, section 11 of the state’s regulations, specifically 26.11.02.10, for exemption details http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/26/26.11.02.10.htm

MINOR SOURCE PERMITTING

All new units not meeting the above exemptions must obtain a construction permit from the Public Service Commission (PSC). There have been several complaints to state officials that the fees charged by the PSC are prohibitively high. Fees are outlined in 26.11.02.16 through 26.11.02.19 of the state regulations. The PSC does not actually enforce limits, but does include the following requirements (which will be enforced by the Department of the Environment):

• There is no general visible emissions limit, there are specific limits based on geographic areas
• Stack testing may be required

Sources that trigger Title V must also obtain a permit from the Department of the Environment. Additional fees will be required from the Department of the Environment.

MAJOR NSR/PSD PERMITTING

250 tons of any criteria pollutant triggers PSD. 100 tons of NOx and 50 tons of VOC triggers NSR. In the severe nonattainment areas 25 tons of NOx or VOC triggers NSR. The NSR application should be submitted with the permit to construct application and must include emission controls that meet LAER and emission offsets which provide a net decrease in VOC and/or NOx emissions in accordance with the ratios listed under COMAR 26.11.17 for various geographical regions. Once a complete application is submitted it normally takes 10 months for approval. The guidelines state that it will cost exactly $20,200 to receive a permit to construct, which is required prior to NSR approval.

TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY ENGINES

Emergency generators can operate for up to 500 hours per year. In the past, emergency units were able to get a waiver if they agreed to operate for emergency use only, but still had to obtain a permit to construct.

SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UTILITY GENERATORS:

The state of Maryland witnessed a surge in CPCN applications in the late 1990's and early 2000's which raised concerns over the cumulative environmental impact of such plants. State authorities were particularly alarmed by the amount of proposed plants along the Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia. After the Enron scandal, many of these proposed merchant plants have been withdrawn due to tighter credit lending. In response to these concerns, a cabinet-level Task Force was convened by the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to develop a set of guidelines by which agencies would develop recommendations to the Commission on the power plant approval process. The Task Force released its findings in December 2002. The Maryland Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) evaluates power plant licensing requirements in the state, including the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) process. Information on Maryland's formal CPCN process and guidance documents can be found here.

All new generating stations in the state of Maryland must receive construction approval from the Commission prior to the initiation of construction. However, the new rules do allow for certain exemptions to the CPCN process. This is done under Section 7-207.1, which became effective October 1, 2001, and provides that certain power generation projects can be exempted from the CPCN process if these meet the following conditions (http://law.justia.com/maryland/codes/gpu/7-207.1.html):

a) the generating station produces on-site generated electricity; and
b) the capacity of the generating station does not exceed 70 megawatts; and
c) any electricity exported for sale is sold only on the wholesale market pursuant to an interconnection, operation, and maintenance agreement with the local electric company.

An applicant must submit a completed application that is signed by an officer of the company or entity who can legally bind the applicant to the terms and conditions of Section 7-207.1. In addition, the applicant must submit an interconnection, operation, and maintenance agreement with the local electric distribution company or a written statement from the local distribution company that such an agreement is not required. All potential on-site electrical generators are still governed by the MDE's air and water quality regulations.

BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES:

Building Codes: Maryland enforces the Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS). The MBPS adopts the 2006 IBC with some amendments. Each jurisdiction must use MBPS as its base, but may make local modifications. [1][2]

• Maryland Code Administration

Energy Codes: Included in the MBPS is the adoption of the 2006 IECC. This may not be modified by local jurisdictions except to make it more stringent. [1]

• Maryland Energy Administration

Fire Codes: The 2008 Maryland Fire Prevention Code, which applies statewide except in Baltimore, is based on NFPA’s 2006 UFC.

• Maryland State Fire Marshal

Zoning: Zoning and planning happens at the local level. Some restrictions are enforced for specific types of land (i.e. resource protection) by state code. Check with each jurisdiction regarding their zoning codes.

Resources (information may not be as current as provided above) A general overview of each state’s enacted codes can be found HERE.

The International Code Council Adoption page gives state-by-state adoption status of specific ICC codes, as well as information about code adoption by some municipal governments within that state.

Information about energy codes can be found at the DOE’s Building Codes for Energy Efficiency page

INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS:

Maryland’s final interconnection rules became effective June 9, 2008. The rules apply to all utilities and all distributed generation systems of less than 10 MW. Determining what type of review is necessary to connect a system to the grid first requires the system be classified in one of four levels:

• Level 1: Lab certified, inverter-based systems of 10 kW or less.  
• Level 2: Lab certified or field approved systems of 2 MW or less connected to a radial distribution circuit or to a spot network serving one customer.  
• Level 3: Only applies to systems that will not export power to the grid and that do not require new facility construction by the utility. Systems being located on an area network must be inverter-based, use lab certified equipment, and have a capacity of 50 kW or less. Systems located on a radial network must have a capacity of 10 MW or less and not be served by a shared transformer. These systems are also subject to additional criteria dealing with the aggregate capacity of interconnected systems on a given network.  
• Level 4: Systems 10 MW or less that cannot be approved or do not meet the criteria for review under a lower tier.

Lab-certified equipment is defined to mean equipment tested and approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (NRTL) as being in accordance with IEEE 1547, UL 1741, and the National Electric Code (NEC). Field approved systems are generally non-certified systems that have been tested and approved under a prior review by a utility, subject to certain other restrictions.

Utilities may not charge any processing fees to Level 1 applicants and processing fees are limited to $50 plus $1/kilowatt (kW) of capacity for Level 2 requests and $100 plus $2/kW of capacity for Level 3 and 4 requests. Utilities are also required to designate a contact person and provide assistance materials on their website for use by prospective applicants. Standardized interconnection agreements will be available for all levels of interconnection request. The issue of insurance requirements is not addressed; however, Maryland’s net metering law prohibits utilities from requiring additional liability insurance for net metered customers.

The information provided here is a basic summary. For more specific and detailed information consult the interconnection rules or contact the Maryland Energy Administration.

Tim LaRonde
Maryland Energy Administration
1623 Forest Drive, Suite 300
Annapolis, MD 21403
Phone: (410) 260-7539
Phone 2: (800) 723-6374
Fax: (410) 974-2250
E-Mail:meainfo@energy.state.md.us

EXIT FEES:

There are no explicit exit fees in Maryland. However, some utilities have still been able to recover their stranded costs. DG owners have to pay for upfront costs related to receiving service. The MD PSC has a policy that utilities can't "socialize costs," meaning that costs cannot be passed along to other customers.

UTILITY STANDBY RATES:

Maryland does not have a statewide policy on standby rates. Related policies for Maryland utilities are listed below.

Potomac Edison Co. (Allegheny Power )

Alternative Generation Schedule AGS
Part of System	Distribution Charge	Transmission Charge	Electric Supply Charge
Firm Standby Power	DEMAND CHARGE: First block (0-100 kW): $0.925 per kW Second block (over 100 kW): $0.858 per kW REACTIVE KILOVOLT-AMPERE CHARGE: Billing reactive kilovolt-amperes: $0.40 per reactive kilovolt-ampere/hr ENERGY CHARGE: All kilowatt-hours: $0.00145 per kW/hr	DEMAND CHARGE: First block (0-100 kW): $0.349 per kW Second block (over 100 kW): $0.327 ENERGY CHARGE: All kilowatt-hours: $0.00055 per kW/hr	Transmission and Electric Supply Charges apply only to customers receiving Hourly-Priced LCS from the Company. These charges do not apply to customers obtaining Competitive Power Supply.   The retail price for the Hourly-Priced LCS calculated monthly will consist of the following – PJM hourly integrated real-time locational marginal price for energy at the APS zone; Charges associated with the PJM capacity obligation; FERC approved ancillary services, administrative, energy losses; An administrative charge between $0.00225 and $0.00300 per kilowatt-hour; Applicable taxes; Any other price element approved by the Commission
Interruptible Standby Power	DEMAND CHARGE: First block (0-100 kW): $0.878 per kW Second block (over 100 kW): $0.811 per kW REACTIVE KILOVOLT-AMPERE CHARGE: Billing reactive kilovolt-amperes: $0.40 per reactive kilovolt-ampere/hr ENERGY CHARGE: All kilowatt-hours: $0.00145 per kW/hr	DEMAND CHARGE: First block (0-100 kW): $0.332 per kW Second block (over 100 kW): $0.309 per kW ENERGY CHARGE: All kilowatt-hours: $0.00055 per kW/hr