Maryland Smart Energy Communities Program Welcomes Nine New Participants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jahmai Sharp-Moore | 443-694-3651

Baltimore, MD – The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) today announced awards for the Maryland Smart Energy Communities (MSEC) Fiscal Year (FY) 19 grant program. MSEC welcomes nine new participants and will award continuing grants to five current communities with awards totaling $507,122 dollars.

“I am encouraged to see participation in the Maryland Smart Energy Communities program grow,” said Mary Beth Tung, Ph.D., J.D., Director of the MEA. “This is a prime example of how our counties and municipalities can leverage State resources to save not only energy but also save on electricity and transportation costs.”

Since MSEC’s 2013 launch, a total of 78 communities across the state have joined, and $13.2 million dollars has been awarded to increase energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, and petroleum use reduction. The nine new communities this year are: Howard County, Colmar Manor, Eagle Harbor, Galena, Goldsboro, Laurel, North Brentwood, Sykesville and Upper Marlboro. MSEC existing participants who will receive awards for FY19 are as follows: Aberdeen, Anne Arundel County, Bowie, Greenbelt and Montgomery County.

“This program enables Maryland communities to build a more sustainable future, banking on their energy efficiency and renewable energy savings,” explained Director Tung. “It is exciting to see communities lead by example.”

Aberdeen will use their FY 19 grant of $46,122 dollars to retrofit both indoor and outdoor lighting at their waste water facility. The project includes retrofitting 796 lighting fixtures with high efficiency LEDs as well as installing occupancy sensors to further increase energy savings. This energy efficiency upgrade will yield an annual savings of over $29,000 dollars, equal to 237,513 kilowatt hours and boasts a simple payback of just over two years.

Montgomery County will use their FY19 award of $50,000 dollars to implement the HVAC optimization at their Executive Office Building in Rockville. The system optimizes the water-chilled central cooling system which is expected to save the county over $73,000 dollars and 572,100 kilowatt hours annually.

To earn the MSEC designation, a county or local government must enact a set of policies, prescribed by MEA, in at least two of three specified areas: energy efficiency, renewable energy or alternative fuels. Applicants must adopt the policies, submit baseline energy data, and formulate an action plan for each policy tract. MSEC members create action plans to achieve each of their adopted energy goals within required time-frames. The MSEC program encourages communities to take the necessary steps to reduce energy usage, pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The goal of the MSEC program is to have local governments adopt and implement policies that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in their jurisdictions. Past awardees have used funds towards cleaner public transportation and the installation of a solar farm. A full list of FY19 awardees can be found below:

MEA MSEC 2019 Award Listing

Funding for the MSEC program comes from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF), which was created from public auctions of carbon credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). For more information on the program please click here.

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Maryland Energy Administration On behalf of Governor Hogan the mission of the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is to promote affordable, reliable and cleaner energy for the benefit of all Marylanders.  To achieve its mission, MEA advises the Governor, General Assembly on matters relating to energy policy.  MEA administers grant and loan programs to encourage clean energy technologies in all sectors of Maryland’s economy: Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, and Transportation. For more information about the Maryland Energy Administration, visit www.energy.maryland.gov.