By MDBayNews Staff
As Maryland endures winter storms and rising energy costs, warnings of potential rolling blackouts are colliding head-on with the state’s aggressive climate agenda—raising serious questions about reliability, affordability, and priorities in Annapolis.
A recent public warning circulated by Fitzgerald Mofor, a House of Delegates candidate in District 9A, points to mounting evidence that Maryland’s energy system is under strain just as policymakers continue to double down on policies that have reduced in-state power generation.
Blackout Risk Is No Longer Theoretical
According to a leaked internal memo from the Maryland Energy Administration, regions served by Baltimore Gas and Electric could face serious repercussions during peak demand due to inadequate local generation and transmission constraints.
This is not a hypothetical scenario. Last summer, roughly 4,000 Howard County residents lost power for nearly two days following a similar capacity shortfall. Winter storms, which drive sharp spikes in electricity demand, only heighten the risk.
Yet while grid operators warn of fragility, Annapolis leadership under Wes Moore has continued to prioritize climate legislation that critics argue has accelerated the closure of reliable baseload power plants without adequate replacements.
Power Plants Closed, Dependence Imported
Over the past several years, Maryland has shuttered or scheduled the closure of multiple power stations, including:
- Dickerson Generating Station
- Luke Mill Power Plant
- R. Paul Smith Power Station
- Chalk Point Generation Station
- Morgantown Generating Station
- Warrior Run Generating Station
- Brandon Shores Power Plant (set to close in 2029)
As a result, Maryland now imports roughly 40% of its electricity, much of it generated from fossil fuels in neighboring states—undercutting the environmental argument while exporting jobs and grid control.
Higher Bills, Lower Reliability
Ratepayers are feeling the impact. Participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Climate Solutions Now Act has added layers of cost, while programs like EmPower Maryland have delivered marginal savings at significant administrative expense.
Small rebates funded through the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF) may offer temporary relief, but critics argue they amount to little more than recycling ratepayer money after policy-driven price hikes.
A Call for “Common-Sense Energy”
Mofor’s campaign calls for a sharp course correction: streamlining approval of Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCNs) through the Public Service Commission to allow new natural-gas generation, withdrawing from RGGI, and repealing what supporters call “ideologically driven” mandates that ignore grid realities.
The argument is straightforward: energy policy must first ensure reliability and affordability before politics.
The Bigger Question
With Democrats holding a supermajority in the General Assembly, accountability is unavoidable. If Maryland experiences rolling blackouts or prolonged outages, voters will ask why warnings were ignored—and why energy independence was sacrificed in the name of symbolic climate leadership.
As winter stress-tests the grid, the contrast between rhetoric and reality is becoming harder to ignore. Marylanders may soon discover that good intentions do not keep the lights on.
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