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SB 675

Public Service Commission - Full Costs and Benefits Analysis of Sources of Electricity Generation

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Dalya Attar and 7 co-sponsors

The bill requires the PSC to conduct a full costs and benefits analysis of natural gas, nuclear, and offshore wind (with storage) to identify the lowest-cost, highest-benefit gener

Hearing 3/06 at 1:00 p.m.
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Bill Summary · SB 675

SB 675 — Public Service Commission: Full Costs and Benefits Analysis of Electricity Generation

Status snapshot
- Title: Public Service Commission – Full Costs and Benefits Analysis of Sources of Electricity Generation
- Hearing: 3/06 at 1:00 p.m.
- Report due date: December 1, 2026
- Effective date (bill text): October 1, 2025
- Sponsors (per bill text): Senators Carozza, Hershey, Attar, Brooks, Gallion, Simonaire, Watson, West (authoring jurisdiction: Maryland)

Purpose / Intent

Require the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to prepare a comprehensive, scenario-based analysis of the full costs and benefits of major electricity generation sources (natural gas, nuclear, and offshore wind), including the role of energy storage and system reliability costs. The study is intended to inform legislative and regulatory policy and procurement decisions by identifying cost-effective generation mixes and recommended policy changes to benefit ratepayers.

Key provisions

  • PSC must conduct a “full costs and benefits” analysis of sources of electricity generation in the State.
  • Scenario cost comparisons required:
    • Costs to ratepayers if the State is served by: (a) natural gas at current capacity; (b) nuclear at current capacity; and (c) 8,500 MW of offshore wind capacity.
    • Additional costs needed to offset reliability and intermittency associated with offshore wind.
    • Use the Levelized Full System Cost of Electricity (L-FSCOE) model to analyze meeting the State’s needs from:
    • only natural gas + energy storage;
    • only nuclear + energy storage; and
    • only offshore wind + energy storage.
    • Identify costs for each generation type when energy storage is available to offset intermittency/reliability issues.
  • The analysis must include recommended policy changes to support development of the lowest-cost / highest-benefit energy sources for ratepayers.
  • PSC must report findings and recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education, Energy, and the Environment and the House Economic Matters Committee by December 1, 2026.

Who would be affected

  • Public Service Commission (responsible for study and reporting).
  • Regulated electric utilities and public service companies (respondents to data requests; assessments may fund the study).
  • Ratepayers (analysis may inform future procurement and policy with potential cost impacts).
  • Developers and owners of natural gas, nuclear, offshore wind, and energy storage resources.
  • State policymakers and committees receiving the report.

Timeline & fiscal impact

  • Report deadline: December 1, 2026.
  • PSC implementation costs: estimated consultant support of approximately $500,000 total, allocated as ~$250,000 in FY 2026 and ~$250,000 in FY 2027 (per fiscal analysis). Costs are expected to be covered by PSC special funds, financed through assessments on public service companies (i.e., not general fund).

Potential implications

  • Provides an analytic basis for energy procurement, offshore wind planning (including the State’s 8,500 MW offshore wind goal), energy storage targets, and reliability planning.
  • May yield legislative or regulatory recommendations that shift investment emphasis among natural gas, nuclear, offshore wind, and storage to favor options demonstrating lowest full-system costs and greatest benefits to ratepayers.
  • Increases near-term workload for PSC and data/reporting obligations for utilities and developers.

If you want, I can extract the exact statutory language the bill would add, create a one-page briefing for legislative staff, or draft likely questions stakeholders may raise at the hearing.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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