Around 35% of Maryland’s “clean energy” in 2020 came from controversial renewable energy sources such as trash incinerators, landfills and woody debris burned in power plants and paper mills, according to a recent report.
After reviewing records from the Maryland Public Service Commission, an environmental advocacy group called the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) found that Maryland utility companies paid $36 million for “renewable energy credits,” or RECs, from trash incinerators, landfills and paper mills that burn black liquor and wood waste for energy in 2020.
Maryland set up the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2004 to encourage a gradual transition to clean energy, requiring energy companies to subsidize solar, wind and other clean energy sources through purchasing a specific percentage of renewable energy credits every year or pay a fee. At least some must come from solar and wind produced in the state.
