Articles Responding To:
MARYLAND (WBFF) — Some state lawmakers are calling for an audit into the EmPOWER Maryland program after allegations of fraud have surfaced.
“I don’t think there’s the level of accountability obviously that there needs to be,” Senator Justin Ready said.
The EmPOWER Maryland program is an energy efficiency program which provides incentives, rebates and other types of assistance to homeowners and businesses, with the goal of reducing energy consumption, strengthening the grid, lowering bills and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
According to our media partners at the Baltimore Sun, whistleblowers, who previously filed a sealed lawsuit, accused Lockheed Martin and its contractors of overstating energy savings, billing for work that wasn’t done, and diverting millions in ratepayer funds between 2015 and 2019. The case was later settled.
In a response, a representative from Lockheed Martin referred a request for comment to TRC, the company that bought Lockheed Martin Distributed Energy Solutions in 2019. TRC did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Maryland Public Service Commission said the Commission’s Technical staff has requested authorization from the Commission to conduct an investigation into the allegations. A recent Staff report noted that “one utility reported fraudulent filings in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program,” which is a program within EmPOWER. While the extent is unclear, the report said, “staff plans to prioritize its investigation into allegations of fraudulent claims.”
The report also notes when it comes to contractors installing equipment, at times, rebate processing can take nearly two months.
“We ought to be able to audit it, and I look forward to actually finding out more about what our audit committee is going to do on this issue,” Ready said.
“It’s not direct taxpayer spending, but is absolutely our taxpayers and ratepayers that are funding this program, and if the money’s been taken and used under false pretenses or been, you know, siphoned off, we need to know and get to the bottom of it and penalize and punish whoever’s responsible,” he added.
Taylor Frazier McCollum had never gotten deeply involved in local politics until she learned of plans for a data center at the site of the former Landover Mall. She started a petition to fight the proposal and just two weeks after posting it on Instagram, more than 20,000 people signed it.
Frazier McCollum, whose family lives less than a mile from the site in Prince George’s County, said she’s worried about the noise, light and environmental impacts, which she called “war weapons.”
“We already deal with so many issues with pollution and things of that nature inside the Beltway,’’ Frazier McCollum said. “It would be unfortunate to bring even more of that to our community.”
Across Maryland, activists and data center supporters are battling over where and how proposed facilities will be built. Meanwhile, in the State House, lawmakers this session debated how to regulate them and the possible impact they could have on the electric grid. State Democratic leaders, including Gov. Wes Moore, have backed efforts to govern them.
“I’m not saying data centers shouldn’t be built in Maryland, but if they are going to be built, we need more safeguards,” said Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery).
At least 17 bills related to data centers were introduced this session, according to the General Assembly. Of those, only two passed.
One of the bills, the Utility RELIEF Act, aims to hold utilities and data centers accountable, strengthen the long-term reliability of the state’s energy system and expand clean energy, said House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, who introduced the legislation.
“Electric demand is rising rapidly — driven in part by the growth of data centers and the digital economy,” Peña-Melnyk, D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel, said at a press conference in March.
The bill passed on the final day of the legislative session and sent it to Moore, who is expected to sign it.
Lawmakers want “real path” for data centers
Moore has said he would support data center projects if they hire local workers and support their own power needs.
“Data centers are done dictating what rules they will follow,’’ Moore told reporters last week, at a news conference about the Utility RELIEF act. “Under this law, data centers will pay for the grid upgrades that they need, and not the people of the state of Maryland.”
The bill would also expand which data centers qualify as a “large load customer,” an entity with high energy demands and subject to stricter regulations.
The bill also incentivizes data centers to bring their own new clean energy, adhere to an energy efficiency program and give some protection to ratepayers, Mariah Davis of the Marylanders for Data Center Reform Coalition said during a webinar earlier this month.