Governor O’Malley’s 15 Strategic Policy Goals

10. Increase Maryland’s In-State Renewable Generation to 20% by 2022

Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) was doubled during the 2008 legislative session to ensure that at least 20 percent of the State’s electricity supply comes from renewable sources by 2022. The O’Malley-Brown Administration, however, set a new, non-binding goal in 2011 of producing 20 percent of Maryland’s electricity from in-state renewable sources by 2022, reducing the state’s reliance on expensive imported renewable energy credits (REC).

Progress to Date

renewable energy graph

Maryland is currently generating 6.7 percent of its energy from in-state renewable generation, which accounts for 33.5 percent of the State’s 2022 goal. Much of the State’s future renewable generation growth is projected to come from offshore wind, onshore wind and solar.

Maryland’s In-State Renewable Energy Capacity (Megawatts)

Renewable Sector	2007 (baseline)	2008	2009	2010	2011	2022 (goal)
Hydro Electric	526	526	526	526	526	526
Landfill Gas/Black Liquor	79	85	90	94	98	98
Waste to Energy	128	128	128	128	128	323
Land Based Wind	-	-	0.2	0.3	120	590
Solar	0.03	1.9	6.9	10.5	37.6	1,149
Animal Litter	-	-	-	-	-	35
Offshore Wind	-	-	-	-	-	1,000
TOTAL Renewable MW	733	741	751	759	910	3,721

To achieve its goal of producing 20 percent of its energy from in-state renewable sources, Maryland must increase its renewable capacity to 3,721 megawatts (MW) by 2022. With nearly 150 MW of onshore wind and solar capacity coming online in 2011, Maryland increased the State’s renewable energy capacity to almost 5 percent of the State’s total capacity.