During the 2024 Maryland Legislative Session, we helped pass HB864 to update the EmPOWER program. The enacted reforms will help Marylanders lower their energy bills, reduce their exposure to harmful emissions from gas appliances, and move towards our climate goals by reframing the program goals around greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating fuel switching from gas to electric, and adding new incentives for energy efficient electric appliances.
You can learn more about EmPOWER, and our 2024 legislative goals for the program below.
What is EmPOWER?
The EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act of 2008 created the EmPOWER program to incentivize energy efficiency and conservation efforts. EmPOWER has improved energy efficiency, which has saved utility customers money, reduced pollution, and helped protect the environment.
Since 2008, EmPOWER had:
- Created lifetime savings of over $12.7 billion from an investment of $3.5 billion in efficiency.
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of at least 9.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equal to taking 2 million cars off the road for a year.
- Provided Marylanders with free or discounted energy audits, weatherization, and efficient appliances and provided businesses with discounts and incentives for energy efficient upgrades.
Why did we need to update EmPOWER?
The program had brought great change to Maryland by reducing energy consumption and lowering utility bills, but it was important to ensure that the program was working adequately to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Transitioning Maryland households from gas to electric space heating and appliances was essential for achieving our state’s legislatively-enacted climate goals. EmPOWER Maryland, our longstanding energy efficiency program, needed to be updated to become an important tool for accomplishing this transition, including by setting a goal for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, not just energy efficiency.
By reforming the program during the 2024 legislative session, we were able to ensure that EmPOWER delivered on its promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and align with the state's climate goals.
Our Priorities for EmPOWER Reform in 2024 were:
- Set pollution reduction targets & measure results based on greenhouse gas reductions, aligning the program with the state’s climate goals.
- Expand EmPOWER’s successful discounts and rebates for energy audits, weatherization and efficient appliances by adding new incentives for efficient, electric appliances and heating – enabling fuel switching from gas, propane, and oil to electric (including heat pumps).
- Expand access for low-income households to state and federal funds for energy efficiency and whole-home retrofits by enabling fuel switching and hiring multilingual community outreach specialists.
- Delivers savings directly to Maryland households by encouraging utilities to invest in in-home improvements and requiring them to achieve 80% of goals from in-home savings.
- Increase transparency and accountability for utilities’ plans, costs, and profits.
- Stop spending ratepayer dollars on subsidies for polluting gas appliances and home heating.