Maryland’s first storage procurement round falls 360 MW short

Maryland’s Public Service Commission (PSC) has selected Flatiron Energy’s 400 MW Chalk Point Battery Storage Project and REV Renewables’ 40 MW Jade Meadow III Battery Storage Project for Energy Storage Capacity Credit awards, the first under the state’s Next Generation Energy Act. The round sought up to 800 MW.

Both projects are four-hour systems, and the conditional awards carry flat 15-year terms, according to the PSC. The commission put the combined cost at 6.98 cents a month for a typical residential customer. It did not disclose award prices.

The 2025 law requires the PSC to procure at least 1,600 MW of transmission-connected storage with at least four hours of discharge through two solicitations of up to 800 MW each. Projects must be operating within 24 months of an award unless the commission grants an extension. The PSC describes the credits as a hedge against uncertain PJM capacity prices that gives large storage projects a more stable revenue stream.

Round shortfall

Five applications were submitted in March. Two developers later withdrew: the 300 MW Fourth Quarter Battery Energy Storage System and the 135 MW Pulaski Energy Storage Project. The commission passed over the 500 MW Oystercatcher Energy Storage Project, citing its lower ranking and its impact on ratepayers.

The PSC also declined to evaluate Flatiron’s proposal to expand Chalk Point from 400 MW to 535 MW, because it arrived after the application window closed. It said the larger project could compete in the second round.

In its announcement, the PSC said Chair Kumar Barve was disappointed that the first round fell short of 800 MW. Barve pointed to more than 40 storage projects that have emerged from PJM’s first interconnection cycle as potential bidders in the second round, which must open by Jan. 1, 2027.

Capacity prices

The program targets a market where capacity costs have climbed. Maryland’s BGE zone cleared at $466.35/MW-day in PJM’s auction for the 2025/26 delivery year, and the entire PJM region cleared at the price cap of $329.17/MW-day for 2026/27 and $333.44/MW-day for 2027/28, according to PJM.

“Maryland families and businesses need reliable electricity at predictable and affordable prices,” said Evan Vaughan, executive director of MAREC Action, a renewable energy trade group whose members include both developers. “These projects can help meet growing electricity demand while reducing exposure to volatile capacity prices that ultimately affect customers’ bills.”

Chalk Point will be built at the existing Chalk Point power station site in Aquasco, Prince George’s County, where owner GenOn announced in 2020 that it would retire two coal-fired units. Jade Meadow III will add storage to a planned 300 MW solar project on reclaimed coal mine land in Garrett County, from which Maryland agreed in August to buy power starting in 2028. Both projects still need PSC construction approval, including hearings on safety, siting, and environmental impacts.

Maryland’s program pays storage for capacity outside PJM’s own market, where batteries solve grid problems they can’t get paid for.