Maryland GOP leader: Legislature 'failed dramatically' to address state's energy needs

Carson Swick, The Baltimore Sun on May 12, 2025

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BALTIMORE — Maryland Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a Republican, is disappointed by what he sees as a lack of progress made on energy issues during the 2025 legislative session.

“I think they failed dramatically to address the resource adequacy requirements that the state of Maryland has,” Hershey told The Baltimore Sun of his Democratic counterparts.

Hershey described energy policy as Senate Republicans’ top issue for the session because Maryland generates more than 40% of its energy out of state, which he believes will deter economic growth if not addressed. He pointed out that Gov. Wes Moore joined eight other states in issuing a regional strategic action plan to “pursue interregional transmission solutions to reduce costs for consumers,” while net energy producers like Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia did not.

“The governor has acknowledged that Maryland will always be a transmission state,” Hershey said. “We do not have the policies in place to promote in-state generation, and therefore Maryland will always have to rely on other states for any large energy requirements.”

Moore’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hershey’s implication.

Other Republicans, like state Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, believe Democrats are hesitant to expand natural gas production to cut Maryland’s net energy deficit. He noted multiple power plants have closed across the state in recent years.

“I don’t know why people are so afraid of natural gas in Annapolis. It’s a clean and affordable form of energy,” said Ready, who represents Carroll and Frederick counties.

Ready told The Sun he thinks Democrats are becoming “more comfortable” with nuclear power as a more renewable alternative to fossil fuels, but meaningful change is years away.

“There was really nothing done about the immediate crisis other than handing people $80 back this year, when what we could have done is … paused the RPS program and stop charging people $80, $90, $100 a month on their energy bill,” Ready said, referring to Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires suppliers to meet a minimum portion of electricity sales with renewable energy sources.

State Sen. Brian Feldman, a Montgomery County Democrat, says the legislative session led to some improvements in the “reliability” of energy sources.

Feldman pointed to the passage of House Bill 1035/Senate Bill 937, which requires that any new natural gas plant approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission be able to convert to hydrogen or zero-emissions biofuel when deemed “feasible.” Environmental groups had argued the bill’s passage would prioritize natural gas plants at the expense of air quality and climate change goals.

“I think we struck a balance here between addressing our resource adequacy issues in the state and taking into account ideas from other bills and some of the pushback we received from various groups,” Feldman said.

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