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A Day Actually at the Maryland PSC

Deck: 

State Commissions

Byline: 

Lori Burkhart

Author Bio: 

Lori Burkhart is Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly.

Fortnightly Magazine - August 2021
Report - Grid Investment for Medium & Heavy Duty EVs

The Actual Day at the Maryland Public Service Commission was a big deal for many reasons. It marked, in a sense, the closing of the pandemic for the PUF team, who traveled to the Commission offices in Baltimore for the first time since the pandemic start, to meet with, yes, actual people. The PUF team had such a warm welcome on the upper floors of the William Donald Schaefer building, the fourth tallest building in that iconic city, which houses the Commission.

The PUF team never knows what it will discover, in this case, the profound, that Maryland punches well above its weight, with an expansive grid modernization portfolio, ambitious electric vehicle and charging programs, utility-scale batteries deployed as grid assets, and more, backed up by a diverse renewable generation portfolio and nuclear power at the Calvert Cliffs plant. Then there is the nugget of interest, especially to the PUF team member born in Baltimore, that the Commission regulates the marine pilots who jump on and off the big ships on the Chesapeake Bay, and they are required to wear shirts and ties.

All this is made possible by the Commission Staff of some one hundred and fifty, required by statute to be located in Baltimore, so legislative business entails a drive to Annapolis. Five Commissioners lead this accomplished Staff, and they all have a lot to say about what makes Maryland special and unique.

Maryland PSC conversations: