100% Renewable Electricity Supply for Maryland by 2035: Technical, Economic, and Fiscal Feasibility

IEER analyzes Maryland’s proposed “100% Clean Renewable Energy Equity Act” (HB878) in two new reports:

TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF 100% RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY BY 2035, by Arjun Makhijani

Two questions are central to assessing the technical feasibility Maryland’s 100% Clean Renewable Energy Equity Act (hereafter the “100% Act”):

1. Renewable energy supply growth: Can Maryland ramp up renewable energy acquisition fast enough? Apart from the reliability question (see the next item), this is a capacity question: can Maryland build the needed generation resources in-state and contract for the needed resources from outside the state to meet the renewable electricity targets in the 100% Act?
2. Reliability in the context of variable wind and solar: How will the reliability of a 100% renewable electricity sector in Maryland be assured? In other words, what happens when the wind doesn’t blow AND the sun doesn’t shine? This question might also be phrased thus: how do we achieve reliability when wind and solar energy built in the state or acquired via Power Purchase Agreements from elsewhere cannot directly meet the load?

Download this 5 page report.

ESTIMATE OF ECONOMIC AND FISCAL IMPACT OF MARYLAND’s “100% CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY EQUITY ACT”, by Arjun Makhijani

The brief report summarizes the cost, rate, and fiscal impact of providing 100% of Maryland’s electricity with renewable sources by 2035 under the “100% Clean Renewable Energy Equity Act of 2018” (HB878, hereafter “100% Act”). A description of each chart is also provided. Electric vehicle related issues (generation, cost, CO₂, etc.) are not included.

Download this 12 page report (revised version (22feb2018); slight revisions relating to compensation of owners of existing solar installations)