Maryland will open a one-month application window on October 1 for power-generation and storage projects seeking an expedited state approval track. The Public Service Commission’s Round 2 notice sets an October 31 deadline and lays out the technical, environmental and development-readiness information applicants must submit.
The solicitation covers two categories. A dispatchable project must have an effective load-carrying capability of at least 65%, using PJM Interconnection’s latest rating, and a greenhouse-gas emissions profile lower than coal or oil generation. A large-capacity resource must provide at least 20 megawatts after that same reliability adjustment. Eligible technologies can include generating stations and energy-storage devices. The invitation is technology-neutral within those statutory thresholds; it does not reserve the fast-track opportunity for a single fuel source.
Selection would not constitute final construction approval. It would allow a proposal to use an expedited Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity process, the state review required for major generation projects. The notice says the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Power Plant Research Program has 45 days after the window closes to recommend projects, and the PSC generally must approve, conditionally approve or deny proposals within 60 days.
What applicants must show
Developers must identify their fuel source, nameplate capacity, expected annual output, operating life, PJM interconnection status, project site and construction schedule. Storage proposals must describe round-trip efficiency, anticipated uses and compliance with the NFPA 855 safety standard. The commission also asks for permitting status, emissions modeling, equipment procurement plans, network-upgrade timelines and a decommissioning plan.
Natural-gas proposals face an additional condition: applicants must show that a plant can be converted to run only on hydrogen or a zero-emissions biofuel when the PSC determines conversion is feasible. Approved gas projects would have to report on conversion feasibility every five years. The requirement reflects the framework created by Maryland’s 2025 Next Generation Energy Act and amended by the 2026 RELIEF Act.
The capacity target
The notice says combined approvals must exceed the summer capacity represented by Maryland’s coal- and oil-fired plants, while approved natural-gas capacity alone may not exceed that benchmark. The PSC’s 2024–2033 electricity plan listed 1,453 megawatts of coal capacity and 1,656.3 megawatts of oil capacity in 2023—a combined 3,109.3 megawatts.
That plan also described Maryland as a large net importer of electricity and recorded nine pending generator deactivation requests totaling nearly 2,295 megawatts. Those figures explain the solicitation’s focus on capacity that can contribute during periods of peak demand rather than nameplate output alone.
For communities and ratepayers, no project or cost has yet been approved. Applications submitted in October will identify the proposed sites, technologies and financing plans; environmental review and the expedited certificate process would follow for projects the commission selects. The immediate development is therefore the opening of a competitive pipeline, not authorization to build.
