A Lower Shore state legislator is proposing that emergency shelter buildings be exempt from a state mandate requiring large public buildings to switch over from fossil fuels to electric power.
Del. Wayne Hartman raised concerns that, during a weather emergency or prolonged power outage, reliance on electric power instead of gas or oil power could be risky and problematic.
“It is imperative that any building used for public safety purposes designated as an emergency storm shelter (or) provides public utilities is capable of being resilient during an emergency,” he said during a March 5 bill hearing in Annapolis.
Hartman (D38C-Worcester) noted how thousands of people in North Carolina went without power for two weeks in October following Hurricane Helene, and how Hurricane Sandy in 2012 knocked out power for more than a week for some Marylanders.
“Think about some utility generating – water, sewage, that kind of stuff. They need to have the ability to go on in the event of a prolonged weather event,” he said.
House Bill 1414 directly responds to the Climate Energy Solutions Now Act of 2022. It requires buildings over 35,000 square feet to comply with Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) by 2040, aiming for a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
This would require many of Worcester County’s largest buildings – including many government facilities, as well as Ocean City hotels and high-rise condos – to take their old boilers or furnaces offline and convert to electrical power.
Here’s an idea, why doesn’t the communist State of Maryland just get rid of the mandate all together ?
Biden is gone. The mandate should be gone also.
With the astronomical price increase of electricity over the past two months or so, I don’t see why anybody would want an all electric home or business.
If the State of Maryland is going to push this mandate on one, it should be pushed on everyone. No exceptions.
If the little guy is going to feel pain, the big guys need to feel the same pain also. Maybe than things will change.
Then maybe the brainless Wombats in Annapolis will see how bad this mandate is.
We the citizens of Maryland does not need any ” Moore ” of these stupid mandates.